Clipper, Vol. 23, No. 7, March 27, 1972

              “We must not be intimidated by such lawlessness .. . we must and will meet this blackmail threat on the ground as vigorously as we have met piracy in
the air.”	—President Richard Nixon
by James A. Arey
Pan Am’s airplane, airport and office security are tighter than ever these days in the wake of a series of industry-wide hijackings, bomb scares and extortion threats that included the dynamiting of a TWA 707 in Las Vegas and the arrest of a would-be extortionist in New York.
In Washington, President Nixon ordered beefed-up security in the screening of passengers and baggage to cope with what he called “vicious extortion plots” against the airlines.
“We must not be intimidated by such lawlessness ... we must and will meet this blackmail threat on the ground as vigorously as we have met piracy in the air,” the President said.
On March 11, Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe met with heads of the U.S. flag carriers, including Pan Am’s Chairman Najeeb E. Halaby, to discuss implementation of new security measures.
After the closed-door meeting, Volpe told newsmen that the government and the airlines had the “strength and resourcefulness” to bring the current threat to commercial aviation under control. He noted that countermeasures taken in the past had drastically cut the number of aerial hijackings from a high of 88 attempts in 1969 to 55 last year.
At Pan Am, Frank A. Cardman, senior director-security, pledged full compliance
with new government security regulations.
Cardman appealed to all Pan Am employees “to be concerned with the problem and pull together to make the new security program work.”
Cardman noted that officials of the various labor unions representing Pan Am employees had sent letters to rank and file members urging them to fully support the stepped up security program. In many locations—such as in hangar workshops and aircraft parking ramps — “security sentinels” have been named to be on the alert for such things as unauthorized personnel on the property and suspicious baggage, cargo and commissary objects.
In addition to Pan Am’s normal pre-boarding passenger screening system—which has been in effect since September, 1970—the airline stepped up baggage and cargo security procedures, and, protection of aircraft parked at ramps and in hangar areas.
Throughout the Pan Am system, check-in and boarding agents scrutinized baggage to insure proper tagging and identification before luggage was loaded in belly compartments. Passengers’ tickets and travel documents were double-checked and carry-on luggage was carefully examined.
Pan Am tightened office and hangar secur-
continued on page 3
James A. Arey is manager of technical publicity for Pan Am and author of “The Sky Pirates” (Scribners, $7.95). Critics are calling it the best book ever written on the subject of skyjacking.