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At Logan, Markey Calls For Airplane Knife Ban

Joined by flight attendants and police at a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey urged the TSA not to implement a new policy that would allow passengers to carry small knives onto planes. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Joined by flight attendants and police at a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey urged the TSA not to implement a new policy that would allow passengers to carry small knives onto planes. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

In a Logan Airport news conference on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey called on the Transportation Security Administration to abandon its new policy allowing passengers to carry small knives onto planes.

Markey is urging the TSA not to implement the policy, citing the opposition of flight attendants and federal law enforcement officers.

Joined by flight attendants and police at the news conference, Markey said the policy underestimates the danger of knives.

"On 9/11 we learned that in the confines of an airline cabin, even a small knife can lead to devastating consequences," he said.

The Malden Democrat is a candidate in the state's special U.S. Senate election.

The policy goes into effect April 25. It will also allow passengers to include in their carry-on luggage novelty-size baseball bats less than 24 inches long, toy plastic bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs.

Items like box cutters and razor blades are still prohibited.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This program aired on March 12, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

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