NEW YORK (WPIX)—
Senator Chuck Schumer says airlines based in the U.S. should threaten to stop flying to airports with lax security.The New York Democrat says the Christmas day botched terror attempt to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner shows airport security has become a major disappointment.
Now, he's urging major airlines to report any known security issues at foreign airports, and to refuse to fly to those airports if measures don't improve.
He's also calling on the U.S. State Department to review all travel visas for anyone who has been added to a terrorist database.
"There has been a great deal of time and effort spent trying to close these holes," he said. "The Christmas Day terror attempt must be a wake up call to show that more needs to be done. My plan puts forward some common sense solutions to close these gaps in a quick and cost effective way."
His proposal comes after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab assembled an explosive device in the toilet of a Detroit-bound Northwest flight.
Despite his name being included in a federal terrorist database, warnings from his father that he may have become radicalized, suspicious trips to Yemen, and having passed through security measures at Lagos and Amsterdam airports, AbdulMutallab was still able to board a plane bound for the U.S. with explosives in his underwear. Before he had the chance to detonate, passengers intervened and the plan failed.
