Armed Sky Marshal Force to Be Beefed Up
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said a battalion of armed plainclothes federal agents will begin flying on domestic commercial flights to guard against the kind of hijackings that ended in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
These agents, many of whom will come from the Justice Department, will augment the Federal Air Marshal program, a covert effort by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The original Sky Marshal program began in the 1970s to prevent hijackings to Cuba. The current program deploys agents on U.S. carriers along a variety of routes.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
