Airports asked to review missile attack measures
From Kathleen Koch
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After Thursday's attempted missile attack on a passenger plane in Kenya, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration asked officials at U.S. airports to review measures to protect against similar attacks.
TSA spokesman Robert Johnson told CNN Saturday that the TSA notification went to all federal security directors (TSA employees who direct security at airports), who were then to notify security at individual airports.
Despite news reports to the contrary, Johnson said the federal government did not take any additional steps to counter the threat of portable missiles as a result of Thursday's attack in Mombasa.
Unknown attackers launched two shoulder-fired missiles at an Israeli charter flight as the Boeing 757 was taking off from Mombasa airport. The missiles missed their target and authorities later found two launchers and two unused missiles near the runway.
As CNN has previously reported, U.S. security officials met with airline executives earlier this month in Washington to discuss the possibility of shoulder-fired missiles being used against U.S. commercial airliners. It was one topic among many discussed at that meeting.
The FBI and the TSA first warned U.S. airlines and local law enforcement in May that such an attack could happen. The warning came after an apparent attempt by al Qaeda to shoot down a U.S. military plane in Saudi Arabia with such a weapon.
The TSA alert in May said, "there is no information indicating that al Qaeda is planning to use MANPADS [shoulder-fired missiles] against commercial aircraft," but it added, "the threat cannot be discounted."
