Pilot’s Arrest Adds to Screening Debate

The arrest of an American Airlines captain for allegedly assaulting a security screener is intensifying the debate over whether airline flight crews must endure the same heightened security checks as the public.

The incident in Hawaii last week followed the arrest of at least one other pilot for alleged checkpoint skirmishes in recent months, and industry crews and their unions are loudly complaining that crews must empty their pockets, take off their shoes and otherwise be searched.

“It is insulting for pilots to be treated like criminals in full view of the traveling public” given that “pilots are entrusted with the lives of hundreds of passengers and an aircraft worth tens of millions of dollars,” John Darrah, president of the Allied Pilots Assn., said Tuesday. The APA is the union of American’s 11,500 pilots.

The APA wants the new Transportation Security Administration, which took over airport security after the Sept. 11 attacks, to issue “smart-card” IDs for crews that show they already have security clearance.

The American pilot, Harry Hartsough, 51, was arrested Thursday at Honolulu International Airport on suspicion of misdemeanor assault, said John Borges, administrator for the Honolulu Sheriff’s Department. As Hartsough allegedly objected to being searched, he took off his coat and hit the screener in the eye, Borges said.

The screener was treated for the eye injury and released, said Marilyn Kali, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

The American flight to Dallas was delayed an hour while American found another pilot, she said.

After Hartsough was arrested, he was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court this week, TSA spokeswoman Deirdre O’Sullivan said, adding that American executives have watched a videotape of the incident.

American spokesman John Hotard confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate, except to say the airline is evaluating smart-card technology for its crews. Hartsough couldn’t be reached for comment.

As for the union’s complaint, O’Sullivan would say only that “we continue to rely upon the pilots for their continuing cooperation.”