Female travelers complain of groping by airport security

Dozens of female travelers have filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and state officials, claiming that male airport security screeners groped them under the guise of random body searches. The use of random body searches increased since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The complaints include 18 filed with the FAA by women who claimed they were singled out for pat-down searches when they were traveling alone, then groped or fondled by male agents, according to spokesman Jerry Snyder. Current policy allows female passengers to request female screeners, but no federal law requires airlines to provide an employee of the same sex to conduct searches. Snyder did not identify the airlines involved in the complaints, nor give further detail on the alleged incidents.