Terrorists May Steal Pilot Uniforms

Airline pilots unions are warning members that terrorists might watch their movements or try to steal their uniforms and identification.

The warnings came just before the July 4 holiday weekend, with the nation already on a high state of alert for post-Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner said because of reports of thefts from pilots' hotel rooms, the government asked the airlines to tell their pilots to be more careful.

The American Airlines and Northwest Airlines pilots' unions also warned their members that some flight crews believed they were being watched by people of Middle Eastern descent. They said the individuals had gathered in hotels and other places in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London where crews hang out between flights, and were trying to overhear their conversations.

"Please be alert to the possibility that you may be the target of a surveillance operation," the warning to Northwest pilots said.

An American flight attendant reported that one person had asked about the schedule of the van that drives crews to the airport, and an airline captain was stopped on the street and questioned by two strangers, the Allied Pilots Association said.

In addition, some pilots have reported that their hotel rooms were broken into and their uniforms and IDs stolen. The unions said they did not know how many theft cases there were.

"From time to time, pilots' rooms are burglarized and they steal anything they can get their hands on," said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman John Mazor. "After Sept. 11, this has taken on a new security dimension."

Capt. Sam Mayer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, said the thefts have made him more careful.

"You have to be leery in light of what's going on the world today," Mayer said. "I've been checking IDs a lot more closely, comparing the pictures to the face instead of giving it just a cursory glance and accepting the uniform."

Mazor said the thefts offer another argument for tamperproof identification cards for airline and airport employees. The cards would have biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, to prevent someone other than their rightful owner from using them.

"It wouldn't matter if you stole the uniform or the ID," Mazor said. "The biometric component would prevent it from being used fraudulently."