Sep 11, 2007 5:58 pm US/Eastern
Federal Air Marshals Train In Sunrise Facility
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SUNRISE (CBS4) ―
The Federal Air Marshals program has grown tremendously since 9/11.
There are now thousands of Federal Air Marshals, or "FAMS" as they are called, staffing thousands of domestic and international flights.
Chances are, the man in the window seat next to you, or the woman two rows behind you in the aisle seat could be part of a team of FAMS assigned to your flight.
These FAMS undergo special training at a facility in Sunrise. It's a mock cabin of a passenger jet which agents like to call "FAM Air."
Inside, Agents wearing black plastic helmets participate in training involving pretend terrorists trying to hijack flights with knives, guns, and bombs.
"FAM Air" has special speakers to pipe airplane noise in the simulator. It also had identical lighting and cabin seats.
Jim Bauer, who oversees the FAM program in South Florida told
CBS4'S Brian Andrews "I think that the most important message, the message I tell my family, is that you ARE safe flying these days. You truly are."
Bauer says hundreds of FAMS assigned to the South Florida District are on flights every day. "The way we target which flights we're going to be on is a rather sophisticated algorithm, said Bauer, "We rely heavily on intelligence gathered from a variety of sources."
Bauer says the more than 1,000 local police officers from South Florida have undergone training at the FAM facility in the last 15 months. These officers are being trained what to do if they're on a flight and there's trouble.
Bauer says "They are trained in the kinds of tactics they would employ if they were working with us, if we were on the flight with them, or even if we weren't on the flight with them, the kinds of things that they could do."
The FAMS work in teams on flights and begin working at the airport more than 90 minutes before they take off, keeping a close eye on passengers in the terminal, looking for potential trouble makers, or anything out of the ordinary.
Thanks to extensive training, new technology, and more manpower for the Federal Air Marshals Service, Bauer says, "I'm confident that we're not nearly as vulnerable as we once were. You are very safe flying in America today."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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