Air Marshals Denied Boarding After Altercation With Flight Crew

November 15, 2006 2:17 PM

Avni Patel Reports:

A team of federal air marshals were thrown off a U.S. Airways Express flight last week after an altercation with the flight crew, according to a Federal Air Marshal Service internal incident report obtained by ABC News.

The report says the air marshals were pulled off the plane three times, after the flight crew demanded that they provide additional paperwork.  The air marshals identified themselves to the gate agent and the lead flight attendant but were denied boarding, even after their own supervisors intervened.

A spokesman for Republic Airways, which operates the flight, claimed that the air marshals' account was not true. He said that the air marshals failed to identify themselves to the flight crew and submit the proper paperwork to notify the airline that they would be on board. 

Air marshals are required to "discreetly" identify themselves to airline personnel while boarding flights, but some air marshals say that the policy is deeply flawed.

"We can't board discreetly if the airlines are so involved in our procedures," says air marshal Spencer Pickard. In an interview on ABC's 20/20 last May, Pickard came forward to warn that Federal Air Marshal Service boarding policies were putting the flying public at risk by making it impossible for air marshals to work undercover.

Six months later, the boarding procedures have remain unchanged. In an e-mail last week, Federal Air Marshal Service Director Dana Brown assured air marshals that they were reviewing changes to the policies but ordered them to follow current procedures until further notice.

November 15, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (64)

Dress Code Dropped for Undercover Air Marshals

August 24, 2006 6:24 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

Undercover federal air marshals will no longer be held to a strict dress code that many thought compromised their in-flight anonymity.

The elimination of the dress code is one of a number of significant operational changes announced in a message to air marshals today by the director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown.

Brown's announcement comes just three months after an ABC News investigation revealed policies which air marshals said compromised their undercover status.

Federal air marshal Spencer Pickard (pictured above), who went public in the ABC News reports, said today he was gratified the changes were being made.

"That's great news. That's why I came forward. These are very important steps in the right direction. Air marshals need anonymity to be effective so the terrorists don't know we're there. We can be a real deterrent if we operate undercover." 

Effective Sept. l, air marshals will be allowed to "dress at your discretion, recognizing that the manner of dress should allow you to blend in and not direction attention to yourself," according to Brown's message.

Brown also said air marshals will be free to select their hotels. Under the previous policy, air marshals were required to stay at the same hotel, where their names were often kept on a roster visible to the public at the front desk.

Brown told the marshals the service is also considering changes in boarding policies, "which unfortunately do not lend themselves to simple solutions or immediate, unilateral decisions."

Air marshals had complained passengers could easily spot them because they were required to show their badges publicly at the airline check-in counters and were forced to board in advance.

On recent flights out of Washington, D.C., air marshals have been permitted to board with passengers so that they blend in.

Read the full memo from Federal Air Marshal Service Director Dana Brown on the Changes.

August 24, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (70)

Special Counsel Orders an Investigation of the Federal Air Marshal Service

August 21, 2006 8:52 AM

Avni Patel Reports:

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has ordered the Secretary of Homeland Security to investigate the Federal Air Marshal Service based on a whistleblower's allegations.

In a recent letter, the agency informed air marshal whistleblower Frank Terreri that it had referred his complaint for investigation based on the "substantial likelihood" his allegation that the Federal Air Marshal Service Management had "failed to fully protect the anonymity of air marshals" is well-founded.

"This is the bureaucratic 'Good Housekeeping' seal of approval for whistleblower allegations," said Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project, a watchdog group that represents Terreri and other whistleblowers. "It sets-up a structure for serious follow-up of these allegations and can be a springboard for real change."

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent agency authorized to review federal employee allegations of illegality, misconduct and abuse. Devine says that in recent years it has rarely backed high-profile allegations like Terreri's, despite the fact that it receives nearly a thousand complaints a year.

In May, ABC News reports aired on 20/20 and posted on the ABCNews.com Blotter were the first to reveal the flawed policies that Terreri and other air marshals say compromise their ability to work undercover.

Terreri had spent three years trying to get air marshal management to address his concerns about those policies with no success.  Instead, he says his bosses retaliated against him and launched four separate investigations.

Terreri says he believes ABC News' investigation and the subsequent release of a House Judiciary Committee report forced air marshal management to acknowledge the discontent within its ranks and conduct a massive review of its policies.

"I don't know if all this would have happened otherwise," said Terreri. He now hopes his bosses will move quickly to make changes that he says are much-needed to ensure the integrity of aviation security and protect the American public.

August 21, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (26)

Where Were the Air Marshals? None on Disrupted London Flight

August 18, 2006 12:38 PM

Avni Patel Reports:

No on-duty federal air marshals were on board the transatlantic flight that triggered a security scare on Wednesday, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case against the United passenger whose erratic behavior forced the captain to divert the flight to Boston.

Air marshals are required to file an affidavit when incidents involving criminal charges occur on flights they cover, according to current and former air marshals.  In cases where there are no air marshals on board, the FBI files the affidavit.

"This begs the question: Why were there no air marshals on board a flight from the U.K. to the U.S. while we're under orange alert?"  said a former air marshal who asked to remain anonymous.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced last week that it would deploy additional air marshals to cover flights between the U.K. and the U.S. after British authorities made dozens of arrests in an alleged plot to bomb planes over the Atlantic. Shortly after the announcement, an ABC News producer was able to spot at least seven air marshals on-board a flight from New York to London.

During Wednesday's disturbance, flight attendants had to ask other passengers to help restrain the woman using airline-issued handcuffs after she urinated on the floor of the cabin.  The affidavit makes no mention of air marshals being involved in the incident or the arrest of the passenger.

A spokesman for the Federal Air Marshals Service said that he would not comment on whether federal air marshals were on-board Wednesday's flight, stating it was agency policy not to reveal such information.  He did say that air marshals do not necessarily always write incident reports.

August 18, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (14)

Federal Air Marshals Subject to Search

August 11, 2006 9:51 AM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

Federal air marshals flying out of the Dallas Ft. Worth airport were dismayed to learn they would be subject to searches by airport contract security guards.

An internal memo issued yesterday in the Dallas Field Office, obtained by ABC News, instructs FAMS "not to carry any type of liquid, including water or gel (toothpaste)" and to identify themselves as air marshals prior to inspection of their bags.

"At DFW, the airport has contract security guards that will be monitoring the bypass doors and inspecting employees, including FAMs, carry-on baggage."

Air marshals, who are specially trained and authorized to carry weapons on board flights to prevent hijackings and terrorists attacks, were surprised to learn they were to be subject to search.

"Why are federal agents, who are authorized by law to carry deadly weapons on a plane, being searched for deadly weapons? Is DHS [Department of Homeland Security] afraid that there is now the possibility an air marshal will try an smuggle a liquid explosive onto a plane?" said one working federal air marshal who requested anonymity.

In recent months, numerous air marshals have complained to the media, including ABC News' 2020, that current airport boarding procedures needlessly expose the identities of air marshals who are supposed to be traveling undercover. The new Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service Dana Brown acknowledges a morale problem among his working officers and has pledged to change it.

But this latest memo issued to Dallas area FAMs yesterday has some air marshals wondering if their own safety and that of the passengers they are supposed to protect has been further compromised.   

August 11, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (16)

Director of Federal Air Marshal Service Admits Morale Problems

August 03, 2006 2:40 PM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

The newly appointed Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown, says he has come to believe there is a serious morale problem in the Federal Air Marshal Service.

In a five-page, single-spaced internal memo, obtained by ABC News, Brown writes that following a recent series of listening sessions, dinner and field office visits with working air marshals,  "Candidly, morale was much worse than I thought," and pledged to work to improve the situation.

And for the first time, the director also responded to numerous air marshal whistleblowers who spoke out about problems in the air marshal service on ABC News' 2020 and in local news stations around the country as well as a highly critical congressional report.

"We have been in the media more than usual and several evenings ago, a Federal Air Marshal asked me how I felt about it," wrote Brown.  "[I've] come to accept that fact that there are those among us, who believe that they did not have a voice in the Federal Air Marshal Service and that the only way for them to be heard was to speak out through the media, Congress and other external means."

Brown continued, "The only logical and positive approach to our situation is to recognize that everyone involved in these media events has the best interest of the Federal Air Marshal Service at heart."

In his message, Brown described details of a widespread on-going internal review of operations he had initiated, as previously reported in the Blotter, and pledged to keep air marshals posted on developments, saying, "If this situation remains the same a year from now, I will be very disappointed to think that all of what we are trying to accomplish will have either failed or been insufficient."

Read the full text of Brown's memo.

Read past ABC News reports on the Federal Air Marshal Service.

August 3, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (6)

Senator Asks GAO to Investigate the Federal Air Marshal Service

July 28, 2006 9:41 AM

Avni Patel Reports:

A Colorado senator has called on the Government Accountability Office to launch an investigation into the Federal Air Marshal Service.

"I write today to request a formal investigation…regarding the policies in place to maintain the anonymity of Federal Air Marshals and the agency's efforts to improve communication between marshals and management," said Sen. Wayne Allard in a letter sent Wednesday.

Allard asked for a follow-up on recommendations made in earlier report released last November, when the GAO found that the Federal Air Marshal Service lacked an adequate system to keep track and address "incidents that affect air marshal's ability to operate discreetly."

The problems at the Federal Air Marshal Service first came to Allard's attention after ABC News' 20/20 and KMGH-TV, ABC's Denver affiliate, revealed serious flaws in policies that air marshals say put the flying public at risk by making it impossible for them to work undercover.

The investigative reports featured working air marshals, including now-suspended air marshal Spencer Pickard, pictured above, speaking out for the first time to protest the policies and to describe how their bosses had ignored the problems for years. 

Last week, the Federal Air Marshal Service said that it was still in the process of reviewing its policies.

Read past ABC News reports on the Federal Air Marshal Service.

July 28, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (4)

17 Air Marshals Go Public

July 20, 2006 1:42 PM

Avni Patel Reports:

Federal air marshals in four major cities will speak out tonight on their local television newscasts to warn the American public about serious flaws in the much-heralded homeland security program.

"Our job is to prevent another Sept. 11 from happening. We can't do that. Not under these circumstances, not under these conditions," says a Las Vegas air marshal in an interview.

The air marshal is one of 17 who will appear anonymously in shadow on local ABC affiliates in Denver, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Dallas. The air marshals say that flawed policies put airline passengers in as much, if not more, danger today than on 9/11.

On May 19, an ABC News undercover investigation on 20/20 and World News Tonight was the first to reveal how Federal Air Marshal policies may be putting the flying public at risk by making it impossible for air marshals to work undercover.

A month later, Federal Air Marshal Service Director Dana Brown announced that employee working groups were reviewing the agency's policies.

But the air marshals appearing on local television tonight say that Congress and the Department of Homeland Security have ignored the concerns of the air marshals for years and have done nothing to fix the problems.

"We do not want to come before the media. This is the last hope that we have to get these dangerous policies changed," says an Atlanta air marshal.

July 20, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (12)

Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Suspended

June 30, 2006 11:07 AM

Rhonda Schwartz and Avni Patel Report:

Federal Air Marshal Spencer Pickard was removed from his job and  placed on indefinite administrative leave yesterday. His badge and gun were confiscated pending an ongoing investigation.

Pickard has not been notified of the exact nature of the investigation, but he believes that it is a result of his outspoken efforts to alert Congress and the American public to safety problems in the operation of the Federal Air Marshal service.

In an interview on ABC's 20/20 last month, Pickard warned that Federal Air Marshal policies were putting the flying public at risk by making it impossible for air marshals to work undercover.

"They are going after me because I repeatedly spoke out to headquarters, Congress and ABC News.  But nothing has changed. The policies are exactly the same, and the risk is still there," says Pickard.

Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman Conan Bruce said he was not allowed to comment on any personnel matters due to privacy concerns but did say "any personnel actions concerning  Federal Air Marshal Pickard are completely unrelated to and predate his appearance on 20/20."

Pickard was told he would not be allowed to enter the Las Vegas Air Marshal office where he is stationed but is required to stay in the area and call the office daily.  Pickard had recently requested a hardship transfer to Dallas for family medical reasons. 

In a letter to Pickard earlier this week, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), said he was "deeply concerned" about the air marshals' lack of anonymity and would be "monitoring the situation closely to guarantee the implementation of common sense measures to the FAM service."  A spokesperson said they were taking a look at Pickard's case.

June 30, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (36)

Air Marshal Boss Orders Sweeping Review

June 22, 2006 9:52 AM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

The new director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown, has ordered a sweeping review of the agency's operational, safety and management issues.

The service revealed the review one month after an ABC News investigation revealed serious problems that air marshals said had compromised security and safety for marshals and the flying public.

A spokesman, Conan Bruce, said Brown is "aware of the issues" raised in the ABC News report which featured an active duty marshal, Spencer Pickard.  Pickard went public to complain about travel and boarding procedures that he said compromised the anonymity of the flying air marshals.

Pickard was "grounded" shortly after the broadcast.

The spokesman said the review was already underway before the ABC News broadcast but that the issues raised by Pickard, and in a critical Congressional report, "will be given due diligence" by 14 working groups composed of working air marshals, supervisors and civilian employees.

Among the issues raised by Pickard were requirements that air marshals identify themselves in front of passengers at security checkpoints and boarding gates.

The spokesman said the first change was put in place earlier this week involving a schedule change to give air marshals more rest time between grueling flight days.

Another change involved the appointment of the new spokesman, Conan Bruce. A previous spokesman said he had been ordered not to comment to ABC News by supervisors at the Department of Homeland Security.

June 22, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (40)

Revolving Door at the Air Marshal Service

June 20, 2006 9:50 AM

Rhonda Schwartz and Avni Patel Report:

Federal air marshals tell ABCNews an expensive hand-held communication system has not lived up to its promise but that their former director has still benefited.

The system, part of a multi-million dollar contract with the Datamaxx company, was pushed for by the former director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Thomas Quinn. He went to work as a paid consultant for the company weeks after he left the government earlier this year.   

Under Quinn, the Federal Air Marshal Service paid Datamaxx more than $22 million for a system of personal digital assistants, or PDAs, that was supposed to allow air marshals to document suspicious behavior and communicate with the ground during emergency situations.

Air marshals say that what they got was little more than a paperweight. "They were represented as something that was going to help us identify terrorists, but there's just no way that it was going to work that way," said Don Strange, a former FAMS Special Agent-in-Charge in Atlanta. 

Air marshals who tried to use them during a recent incident on a Dallas-Newark flight said they were "worthless," according to marshals who thought the devices were supposed to provide communication between marshals in the air. A FAMS official said the devices do not currently feature that capability.

A House Judiciary Committee report released two weeks ago found that an "overwhelming majority" of air marshals interviewed said the PDAs were "inoperable and consistently failed to perform their intended functions."

Datamaxx referred questions related to operational issues to the Federal Air Marshal Service.

FAMS spokesman Conan Bruce said that the agency upgraded the device through Datamaxx last October and that the current PDA "performs its intended functions and operates well."

Quinn resigned on February 3 of this year. Within weeks, he was promoting Datamaxx's products at a homeland security trade show in Washington, D.C.

A spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the Federal Air Marshal Service, said that Quinn had cleared his current work with Datamaxx through the agency's ethics office.

Government watchdogs say Quinn's employment with Datamaxx raises ethical questions. "There is absolutely an appearance that this is payback for his irrational exuberance for this contractor and its products," said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that monitors government contracting.   

Just before leaving office, Quinn promoted the Datamaxx's software in an article he wrote for a law enforcement newsletter. Quinn's article is prominently featured on the company's website.

"It looks like Mr. Quinn is using his office, which he just left to give a seal of approval on this company's product," said Jennifer Porter Gore of the Project on Government Oversight. "Let's just say this doesn't pass the smell test."

Quinn did not returned phone calls requesting comment for this story.

June 20, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (30)

Federal Air Marshal Spencer Pickard Grounded

June 09, 2006 3:01 PM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

Federal Air Marshal Spencer Pickard was officially grounded this week, after an ABC News interview in which he said his bosses were putting the flying public at risk.

Pickard says he was put on "training" status for the "indefinite future."

On Wednesday, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensebrenner released a damning report on the Federal Air Marshal Service calling it "unacceptable for Federal Air Marshal  management to be oblivious to problems facing their organization."

The Congressional report included allegations from Pickard and other federal air marshals who had urged the committee to investigate. Sensenbrenner told ABC it was time to overhaul the management of the service. "They're arrogant and the time has come to shape up," the Chairman said.

The Transportation Security Administration, which operates the air marshal service has refused to respond directly to Pickard's allegations and requested that Sensebrenner's staff redact their comments in the report for "security reasons."

The TSA did agree to a two week review of the operation of the Denver office, after five air marshals appeared in silhouette on ABC's Denver 7 NEWS, alleging mismanagement, including a  claim that an armed Air Marshal supervisor was found sleeping during a flight.

"The American people aren't safe, and neither are the marshals," said one Denver-based air marshal to reporter Tony Kovaleski.

Read Executive Summary and Conclusion of the House Judiciary Committee Investigative Report on the Federal Air Marshal Service

June 9, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (20)

Air Marshal Whistleblower Warned of Investigation

May 26, 2006 4:17 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

The federal air marshal who went public on ABC News to protest the agency's policies, Spencer Pickard, says he was notified by a supervisor just hours ago that officials are preparing to take action against him.

Pickard said the air marshal service policies had made it impossible for him and other marshals to carry out their duties undercover.

Pickard says he was told his superiors were preparing a "conduct incident report" based on his ABC News interview. He said he was warned he could face action for revealing sensitive security information.

Pickard was ordered to continue flying after the 20/20 broadcast of his interview last week, raising concerns among many air marshals.  Pickard says his own partners were uncomfortable flying with someone who was publicly identified, a concern Pickard said he shared.

The Federal Air Marshal Service has not commented directly on Pickard's allegations that airport boarding policies and a dress code had compromised the undercover status of air marshals. 

However, the top spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration which oversees the FAMS did give this statement to ABC News:

"The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is examining the draft report of the House Judiciary Committee and is in contact with the Committee regarding the draft report's findings and recommendations. Because the draft report has not been released, it would be premature for us to comment any further on this matter.

TSA's Federal Air Marshal Service is constantly improving its programs to safeguard passengers and crew aboard our nation's commercial aircraft."

The draft report reached many of the same conclusions that Pickard did. The report is to be released next week.

May 26, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (64)

Federal Air Marshal Whistleblower Flies Again

May 22, 2006 6:14 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

Spencer Pickard, the federal air marshal who went public on ABC News to protest the policies of his agency, reported for undercover duty today and was assigned to a flight.

"I am still a FAM (federal air marshal)," Pickard said in an e-mail message to the Blotter.

Many of his colleagues had feared he would be punished or fired for his public protest that agency policies compromised his undercover role.

A spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service which had declined to participate in the ABC News report said the agency is now preparing to comment.

In his message to the Blotter, Pickard thanked fellow air marshals for their support. "You all are correct that have stated that this is only the tip of the iceberg so make sure Congress knows everything," he said.

May 22, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (34)

Federal Air Marshal Speaks Out

May 19, 2006 7:02 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

For the first time, an active duty air marshal, Spencer Pickard, speaks publicly, saying his cover has already been blown by the policies of the Federal Air Marshal Service.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Brian Ross, to be featured on ABC News' 20/20 broadcast tonight, Pickard says he cannot perform his undercover mission to safeguard American aircraft from terrorist attack because of poor management policies.

"I'm here because the people need to know if the terrorists do their job right and prepare like they did before 9/11, they will figure out a way to win because we are not undercover," according to Pickard. 

Pickard tells Ross that air marshals can be easily identified during boarding procedures at airports and that his efforts to bring about change within the service have gone unheeded. 

And Pickard is not alone in saying that, as we found in a three-month 20/20 investigation going undercover and talking to dozens of current and former air marshals and high ranking officials, including the former head of the Atlanta office Don Strange.

"I would say that any well trained terrorist or organization could identify every air marshal at every airport," Strange told Ross.

From the requirement that all air marshals stay in the same hotels to the dress code that mandates dress shoes and bans jeans and sneakers to airport boarding procedures that force air marshals to identify themselves as passengers watch.

A Congressional investigation to be made public next week concludes the government is responsible for unacceptable policies that make it easy for terrorists to spot air marshals at airports, according to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner.

"They're arrogant and the time has come to shape up," COngressman Jim Sensenbrenner says.

May 19, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (158)

Congress: Terrorists Could Spot Undercover Air Marshals

May 19, 2006 11:26 AM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

A draft investigative report by the House Judiciary Committee, obtained by ABC News, finds that terrorists could easily spot undercover federal air marshals because of airport boarding policies Homeland Security has "been oblivious to" or refused to change.

"Any procedure that could potentially compromise the anonymity of a federal air marshal is a risk to national security," concludes the report to be made public next week. 

Current and former air marshals tell ABC News their own bosses are responsible for blowing their cover.

"I would say that any well trained terrorist organization could identify every air marshal at ever airport in the country," former air marshal supervisor Don Strange told ABC News for a program to be broadcast tonight on 20/20.

A three-month undercover investigation found five separate places at airports where air marshals are required to identify themselves in front of waiting passengers.

The investigation also found air marshals are required to stay in the same hotels, which often advertise their presence.

"Welcome Federal Air Marshals, Company of the Month" read the sign outside a Sheraton hotel in Florida.

At a Holiday Inn, a list of the air marshals with their names and room numbers was kept in public view at the front desk.

"Anybody who wants to do something bad to a plane and its passengers knows who they have to subdue first," Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told ABC News.

Sensenbrenner urged ABC News to broadcast its undercover footage of security gaps in order to change policies that compromise the air marshals.   

"This has got to stop," he said.

The Federal Air Marshal Service declined to "be interviewed or participate in any way with ABC News."

Click here to read the official statement issued by the Federal Air Marshal Service.

Click here to see the FBI memo of an al Qaeda terrorist studying air marshal seating patterns.

Click here to read the email from a Sheraton Hotel promoting the Federal Air Marshal Service as the company of the month.

May 19, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (65)

Air Marshal Says He Faced Retaliation for Bringing Up Security Issues

May 18, 2006 7:46 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

The head of a group of Federal Air Marshals says the service is badly broken.

"Right now we cannot protect the public," says Frank Terreri, an active duty air marshal who represents a group of 1,500 air marshals. "And not because we're not proficient, not that we're not capable, it's because federal air marshal management, along with the Department of Homeland Security, won't let us do our jobs."

Terreri says air marshals are not able to work undercover because check-in and boarding procedures at airports make it impossible for air marshals to maintain their anonymity:

"We're supposed to be undercover. But basically when everybody knows who you are, you're just the guys on the plane with the gun. Either they're gonna avoid you or overcome you, you're at a severe disadvantage."

Terreri has spent three years trying to get the air marshals management to address these issues with no response. Instead he says they've retaliated against him, with four separate investigations, including one for misuse of his business card.

"The items that he was being accused of were so surreal that they were obviously intending to terrorize the other air marshals into silence," says Tom Devine, an attorney with the Government Accountability Project. The project has petitioned the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to open an investigation into Terreri's allegations. 

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to release a critical investigation of the air marshal service next week.   Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner says the air marshals lack of anonymity violates federal law. He hopes the Federal Air Marshal Service Agency will "at least be a little bit more compliant with the law and whistleblowers, rather than trying to shut them up," citing the case of Frank Terreri as one of several examples.   

In an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed last year, Terreri challenged policies prohibiting air marshals from speaking publicly about their jobs or the agency. The Federal Air Marshal service agreed to change those policies in settlement reached last month. 

Department of Homeland Security officials declined to be interviewed or provide comment to ABC News regarding  the Federal Air Marshal service which will be the subject of an upcoming ABC News special report to air Friday on ABC's World News Tonight and 20 / 20.   

ABC News' Avni Patel contributed to this report.

May 18, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (89)

Air Marshal Prepares To Go Public

May 17, 2006 9:39 AM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

In open defiance of his bosses, an active duty federal air marshal is preparing to go public this week to protest policies the marshal says have already blown his cover by requiring marshals to publicly identify themselves in front of passengers.

"We're not safer having air marshals on the plane if they're not undercover," the marshals says in an interview to be broadcast on World News Tonight and 20/20 this Friday.

The air marshal will not appear in disguise.

Sources inside the Federal Air Marshal Service say top officials conducted an urgent teleconference yesterday to discuss how to handle the upcoming ABC News report.

A spokesperson says the agency "declines to be interviewed or participate in any way with ABC News."

May 17, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (70)

Federal Air Marshals' Bosses Accused of Arrogance, Cover-Up

May 16, 2006 12:55 PM

Rhonda Schwartz and Avni Patel Report:

A damning investigation of the Federal Air Marshal program is set to be released by Congress next week, staffers tell ABC News.

"The attitude of this agency stinks," the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, James Sensenbrenner, told Brian Ross in an interview to be broadcast on World News Tonight and 20/20 this Friday.

Sensenbrenner said officials of the Air Marshal program "stonewalled" his staff and retaliated against air marshals who tried to reveal problems.   

"This report should have come out a year ago had we gotten even minimal cooperation from the Air Marshal service," Sensenbrenner said.

"I think the American public will be shocked," Sensenbrenner said of his committee's findings.

A spokesperson for the Federal Air Marshal program said the agency had no comment.

May 16, 2006 in Federal Air Marshal Service | Permalink | User Comments (101)