Thursday, 4:30 PM
Governor moves National Guard troops to Logan
Boston, MA -- Governor Mitt Romney, left, speaking to Massport Executive Director Thomas J. Kinton after a news conference on Logan Airport security. (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
BOSTON - Governor Mitt Romney said today he will call up active-duty National Guard troops to patrol Logan International Airport, as well as increase vehicle searches around the facility.
It is first time since the Sept. 11 terror attacks that National Guard troops have been called into Logan.
"We've done this mission before, and we're ready to do it again," said Brigadier General Oliver J. Mason, the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard.
The security alert was raised at Logan and airports around the nation early Thursday after officials in Great Britain disrupted a plan to blow up airplanes from Great Britain to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the alleged plot appeared to be engineered by al-Qaida, the terrorist group that hijacked two planes from Logan on Sept. 11, 2001, and flew them into the World Trade Center towers in New York.
The National Guard was activated to help with patrols at Logan shortly after the attacks. They were removed in April 2002.
Romney said the Guard would help with surveillance and checkpoint assignments. He said the exact number of guardsmen was still being determined, but "it will certainly be in the hundreds."
"The security is not only being beefed up in visible ways but also in invisible ways," the governor said.
Romney said the flights targeted in the plot foiled Thursday were not Logan-bound flights.
"I don't know what other governors are doing. Logan has a specific history with regards to the initiation of terrorist activity on airlines, and therefore we have a heightened degree of concern here," he said.
Since Sept. 11, Logan has become a pioneer in testing and using the latest aviation security technology. It was the first airport in the country to launch a permanent system that scans all checked baggage for explosives.
Several flights were canceled to and from Boston on Thursday and most flights experienced some delays while airport security enforced stiffer regulations. The U.S. government banned all liquids and gels in carryon bags, including toothpaste, makeup, suntan lotion. Baby formula and medicines were exempted.
Phil Orlandella, spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, said passengers were given flyers with the new regulations as the airport raised its security level to orange -- one below the top level of red.
He also said officials will perform searches not only at checkpoints but at boarding gates as well, where National Guard troops will be stationed.
He said passengers should arrive 2 1/2 to 3 hours before an international flight and 2 hours before domestic flights.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
