Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Friday ordered new security measures aimed at some Middle Eastern airports “out of an abundance of caution” after the suspicious crash of a Russian airliner that President Obama suggested could have been caused by a bomb.
A White House spokesman on Friday wouldn’t elaborate on what prompted Obama’s statement on Thursday that a bomb may have caused the incident, beyond noting that he based it on “what the United States has learned in the last few days” about the investigation into Saturday’s crash of the Metrojet flight after it departed Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh airport.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said that he has to “protect sources and methods” and, therefore, couldn’t offer more details about what exactly U.S. officials now know about the crash.
Johnson and Transportation Security Administrator Peter Neffenger ordered “precautionary enhancements to aviation security with respect to commercial flights bound for the United States from certain” regional airports, Johnson said in a statement issued Friday. “[T]hese 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,” he continued.
There are no direct flights from Sharm el Sheikh to the United States.
The changes include expanded screening, airport assessments, assistance to those airports and additional measures “both seen and unseen,” Johnson stated. He purposely explained the changes in vague terms and did not name the targeted airports both because of the ongoing investigation and for security reasons.
“I want to assure the traveling public that the Department of Homeland Security is working closely with our domestic and international partners to evaluate the cause of the crash … and will continue to take appropriate precautionary security measures,” Johnson stated.
Many European nations have adopted the same precautions, Johnson noted.
American intelligence officers are studying what exactly caused the jet to crash, but so far, Egypt has not asked the U.S. to send investigators or otherwise assist the Egyptian and Russian probes, Earnest said.
