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Posted on 09/22/2001 11:18:02 PM PDT by kattracks

A presidential commission on airline safety formed in the wake of the July 1996 TWA 800 disaster diluted its recommendations to tighten security procedures after the major airlines donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party, the Boston Globe reports.

Less than two months after TWA 800 exploded in a fireball over the ocean off Center Moriches, New York, the Gore Commission issued an ambitious set of proposals, including baggage matching and enhanced training for airport screeners.

But the airlines complained that the new procedures would be too time consuming, exacerbating delays and missed connections.

Days after the new recommendations were announced, major air carriers made a series of contributions to the Democratic Party:

TWA: $40,000
American Airlines: $265,000
Delta: $120,000
United: $115,000
Northwest: $87,000

In all, the airlines gave the Democratic Party $585,000 in the closing weeks of the Clinton-Gore administration's bid for a second term, the paper said, adding, "over the preceding 10-week period, the airlines gave the Democrats less than half that sum."

Former FAA inspector general Mary Schiavo pointed to a quid-pro-quo, saying that the political contributions helped the airlines avoid expensive new requirements.

A former FAA chief, Billie H. Vincent, and two Gore Commission members, Victoria Cummock and Kathleen Flynn, told ther paper they agree with Schiavo.

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