U.S. urges security enhancements at foreign airports

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is moving to boost aviation security in the Middle East after the crash of Russian Metrojet flight 9268 in Egypt, even though the cause hasn't yet been traced to terrorism.

Jeh Johnson, secretary of Homeland Security, said Friday the enhancements include additional screening for items put on planes, airport assessments in conjunction with counterparts in countries "in the region" and offers of other assistance that are both seen and unseen.

Johnson compared the extra steps to those he ordered in July 2014 to scrutinize electronic devices more thoroughly at certain foreign airports with direct flights to the U.S., particularly if a device didn't have enough power to turn on. The change came because of undisclosed risks that security officials had detected.

"At this time these security enhancements are intended only for certain foreign airports in the region," Johnson said Friday. The "enhancements are designed to provide an additional layer of security for the traveling public, and will be undertaken in consultation with relevant foreign governments and relevant passenger and cargo airlines."

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said the measures aren't in response to a specific threat, but a prudent exercise because of what officials learned about the plane crash.

Foreign airports with direct flights to the U.S. must meet Transportation Security Administration standards for screening travelers and luggage. The International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations, also audits airports for their security effectiveness.

Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security professor at Metropolitan State University in Denver, said Johnson's proposals would likely improve security overall because other countries often don't have advanced X-ray machines, explosives detection and bag-matching policies that U.S. airports have. The U.S. can't force another country to adopt tougher standards, but only restrict U.S. airlines from flying places with inadequate security, he said.

"If this was really an insider attack, there will likely be things going on behind the scenes at U.S. airports to possibly increase employee security levels," Price said. The threat is that if an airline or airport worker smuggled a bomb onto the plane, terrorists "will likely spared the word about how it was carried out in order to try to encourage other s throughout the world to do the same thing."

The steps are being taken even though the cause of the Metrojet crash remains under investigation and there are no direct flights to the U.S. from Sharm el-Sheikh. The Metrojet crashed Oct. 31 on its way to St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people aboard.

The concern is that the plane was brought down by a bomb potentially placed in checked luggage or cargo such as catering carts brought aboard the Airbus A321-200, rather than a mechanical or human problem.

President Obama said Thursday in a series of radio interviews that "there's a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we're taking that very seriously." His comments echoed warnings from British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Egyptian and Russian officials have discouraged speculation about terrorism bringing down the flight from a resort city popular among British and Russian tourists.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday joined other countries in halting flights to the city, until the investigation determines what caused the crash.

An investigator told France 2 television that an explosion could be heard on the plane's voice recorder.