Flight attendants and others in the industry and the flying public reject the notion that TSA officers cannot screen for both explosives and weapons. Keeping air travel safe requires both. Allowing certain knives on board will not make security checkpoints more efficient, because the new policy does not allow screeners to ignore knives. On the contrary, TSA officers will now be responsible for ensuring that knives meet the required criteria for size and blade locking, potentially slowing down the process even more and providing ample distraction from the task of identifying non-metallic IEDs.


However, as evidenced in the 9/11 Commission Report’s account of the events on board Flight 11, the majority of passengers aboard that 767 aircraft were unaware that the situation was any more serious than a routine medical emergency in first class (The 9/11 Commission Report, page 6). In a large wide-body plane, particularly with three classes of service, relatively few passengers have a line of sight to the flight deck door during the few seconds when a hijacking may be attempted. Their reaction cannot be relied upon to thwart such an attack. Additionally, on a flight with a predictably low load factor, a team of six or eight terrorists, armed with pocketknives, could easily overpower the few remaining passengers and crew. Removing these items allows officers to focus on detecting non-metallic improvised explosive devices, which can blow up an airplane (paraphrased Congressional testimony).


“We have yet to see a single incident where a passenger was injured using a knitting needle or scissors.” (“Small Pocket Knives – More Support Than You Might Think.” www. blog.tsa.gov 18 March 2013)


Since 2005, certain small scissors and knitting needles have been allowed on board aircraft. In Congressional testimony, Administrator Pistole touted the fact that there have been zero attacks on passengers or crew with those items. Flight attendants and other stakeholders agree with the sentiment expressed by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) who stated, “That number cannot get better, but it can get worse with this new policy (“Rep. Swalwell Questions TSA Administrator Pistole about Policy Allowing Knives on Planes.” Web. 14 March 2013.) Despite the lack of reported attacks involving knitting needles and scissors, the threat remains, as the 9/11 terrorists used unconventional weapons, such as box-cutters (9/11 Commission Report, page 8.)


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