WASHINGTON – Air travelers were handed new rules Sunday, given permission to carry small amounts of liquid nonprescription medicine onto a plane and instructed to remove their shoes during security checks.
The shoes have to be placed on an X-ray belt for screening before passengers can put them back on.
The eased restrictions on medicine and the mandatory shoe removal were among several measures the Transportation Security Administration ordered Sunday in response to the thwarted terror plot in Britain involving U.S.-bound airplanes.
TSA had previously banned all liquid medications; now it will allow up to 4 ounces of liquid nonprescription medicine, such as cough syrup.
The alleged conspirators had planned to blow up as many as 10 planes flying from Britain to the U.S. using liquid explosives, which TSA’s security equipment can’t detect in carry-on luggage.
In other measures, TSA said it would let flyers carry on low blood-sugar treatments including glucose gel for diabetics; solid lipstick; and baby food. But it said all aerosols are prohibited.
On Saturday, the TSA added mascara to the list of banned items, which includes baby teethers with gel or liquid inside, children’s toys with gel inside and gel candles. Flyers can continue to wear shoes containing gel heels, but they must remove any sort of gel sole insert and put those into checked baggage.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he thought it “unlikely at this point” that the federal government would ban carry-on luggage for safety reasons but that restrictions on carry-on liquids would continue.
There is no evidence that terrorists were working within the United States as part of a plot to detonate explosives on airliners, but U.S. officials remain vigilant, he said.
“I think we have to be concerned about other groups that may seek to exploit the opportunities to do their own activities or their own operations because they believe we are distracted,” Chertoff said. “And the message here is we are not distracted.”
Late Sunday, Homeland Security reduced the threat level for U.S.-bound flights from Britain from red, for “severe,” to orange, for “high.” All other flights operating in or destined for the U.S. remain at orange.
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