Ted Kennedy finds it hard to be taken off federal ’no-fly’ list

By Sara Kehaulani Goo

WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy said yesterday that he was stopped and questioned at East Coast airports five times in March because his name appeared on the government’s secret "no-fly" list.

Federal air security officials said the initial error that led to scrutiny of the Massachusetts Democrat should not have happened even though they recognize that the no-fly list is imperfect. Privately, they acknowledged being embarrassed that it took the senator and his staff more than three weeks to get his name removed.

A senior administration official, who spoke on condition he not be identified, said Kennedy was stopped because the name "T. Kennedy" has been used as an alias by someone on the list of terrorist suspects.

While he worked to clear himself, Kennedy had to wait in the terminal at Washington’s Reagan National, Boston’s Logan International and at least one other airport, his staff said. All the flights were on US Airways. When the senator checked in at the counter, airline employees told him they could not issue him a boarding pass because he appeared on the list. Ken-nedy was delayed until a supervisor could be summoned to identify him and give approval for him to board the plane.

Kennedy’s description of his air-travel troubles — mentioned during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday on the 9/11 panel’s recommendations — gave new life to questions about the quality and effectiveness of the no-fly list. Security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies established the list after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Critics said the senator’s experience was the latest example of how a system designed to improve security is instead targeting innocent travelers.

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