KL to upgrade air security

KL to upgrade air security

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The government is considering putting air marshals on commercial flights in Malaysia as part of security upgrades in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States, a top official said on Friday.

Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik said other measures being considered included new cockpit features aimed at making it more difficult for anyone who was not the pilot to fly a plane, the national Bernama news agency reported.

Security upgrades were being considered because, "nowadays, aircraft are hijacked and used as missiles and this is very dangerous," Ling was quoted as saying.

The United States and other countries are upgrading security on commercial flights after hijackers seized four planes on Sept. 11 and crashed three of them into New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, killing thousands of people.