PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - How Competent Are Airport Screeners ?
View Single Post
Old 12th Oct 2003, 13:39
  #16 (permalink)  
russellackland
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: minnesota
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The FAA publishes its test questions. What does that say about the pilots taking the written test --> nothing i think, because there is so much other testing and experience required!

I was an instructor for the TSA from March until December 2002. I taught over 20 classes throughout the country. Like any industry, the quality of individual varied and so did their performance. Specifically, the written test was only a small part of their evaluation. The practical tests, and the Xray image testing at the end of the course was much more important and challenging. After passing the "course", continued on the job training (average 60 more hours) and then more image testing was required before becoming a screener.
I believe that this professional group of trained individuals working with better equipment than was available in the past, is more likely to stop a terrorist now than ever before. In the future it will only take that one screener, (perhaps with years of experience) to spot something out of the ordinary (it does take time to develop that special ability) and prevent a major disaster. What I told my students is: it will happen, you will make it happen, they are on the front line preventing another major air disaster like 9/11.

russ

Last edited by russellackland; 13th Oct 2003 at 11:19.
russellackland is offline