In-flight vigilance.

Byline: The Register-Guard

One can only hope that the checking of shoes by airport security workers will do more than encourage travelers to wear clean socks.

The recent terrifying tale of American Airlines Flight 63 already is changing security tactics. The FAA now requires U.S. airlines to search passengers' shoes, and new screening equipment is being tested that will detect even minute traces of explosives.

Of course, rudimentary vigilance was all that should have been necessary to raise the suspicions of authorities at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. A hulking, dishevelled man with no luggage, a one-way ticket and wires dangling out of his high-top sneakers passed through the checkpoint after being detained the previous day. Really, what more could anyone have done to give himself away? Wear a matching "I love Osama" T-shirt and turban ensemble? Carry a backpack labeled "Danger: Terrorist Explosive Device"?

The incident points out the fallibility of any security system, even those of the future. There will always be windows of vulnerability, and terrorists will find a way to slither through them. What the events aboard Flight 63 show is that the most effective prevention against airline terrorist attacks is not high-tech scanners but the vigilance of passengers and flight crews.

Since Sept. 11, passengers and flight attendants have shed their "just-sit-back-and-munch-the-peanuts" mentality for one that takes personal responsibility for in-flight safety. That's what happened on Flight 93. Several passengers took notice of the shoe bomber's erratic behavior and resolved to watch him closely during their flight.

It was a flight attendant who smelled sulfur from a struck match and first confronted the man as he attempted to light the tongue of a shoe packed with plastic explosives. When she cried for help, passengers seated nearby came swiftly to her assistance, subduing the man and then tying him up with belts and headphone wires. A doctor administered sedatives, and other travelers doused the man's shoes with water.

The quick thinking and courage of these savvy travelers may well have saved 197 lives. Their heroic actions also serve as a reminder to travelers around the world that basic vigilance, not airport screening technologies, is the best assurance of travel safety.