SCHUMER CALLS ON DHS SECRETARY TO IMMEDIATELY REINSTATE PAN AM FLIGHT 103-INSPIRED AVIATION SECURITY COMMITTEE; SENATOR SAYS PANEL IS CRITICAL TO AIRLINE SAFETY AND PRESERVING MEMORY OF 35 SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND OTHERS LOST IN BOMBING

Last Month, The Trump Administration Quietly Removed All Members Of The Nonpartisan ‘Aviation Security Advisory Committee,’ Created Following 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 That Tragically Killed 35 Syracuse University Students And Others From Across Upstate NY & America

Schumer Says Just-Confirmed DHS Secretary Noem Must Immediately Right This Wrong — And That This Unwise Move Clearly Usurps Congressional Intent, Possibly Violating The Law, And Guts Panel That Has Helped Create Hundreds Of Changes To Improve Airplane Safety

Schumer: DHS Must Bring Back Pan Am Flight 103-Inspired Safety Committee To Continue To Guard and Improve The Safety Of Our Skies

After the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gutted the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which was created following the deadly terror attack on Pan American Flight 103 that took the lives of 35 Syracuse University students and many others, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today called on DHS to immediately reinstate this vital safety panel so they can continue their vital work in airline safety.

Schumer said, “This unwise, unjustified and dangerous move risks the safety of our skies by taking away a key tool to strengthen aviation security, and it possibly violated the law. Beyond that, it is deeply insulting to the memory of those lost that day, including the 35 precious students from Syracuse University.” The senator is now demanding the Trump administration reverse course and bring back the committee to continue its vital air travel safety work.

“Dismantling the aviation security committee inspired by Pan Am Flight 103, and the awful loss of the 35 Syracuse University students and other Americans murdered that day, is callous and risks airline safety. For decades, nonpartisan members of the Committee, including family members of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, have made life-saving recommendations to the federal government to enhance aviation security. Now all that work will cease. It makes absolutely no sense. The Department of Homeland Security needs to immediately right this wrong,” said Senator Schumer. “These members turned their grief into action, to ensure that what happened to their loved ones never happen again. Calling this Committee a ‘misuse of resources’ is insulting to the lives lost by an act of terror nearly 40 years ago and to the Committee’s decades of work. Effectively shutting down operations by removing all members clearly attempts to skirt the mandated congressional intent and possibly violates the law. The Trump administration must reverse course and bring back this committee now.”

“This action by the Trump Administration will undermine aviation security in the United States and across the globe. We are grateful to Senator Schumer for pushing to reverse this action so that the vital work of ASAC can continue,”  said Kara Weipz, President of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103. Weipz’s brother, Rick Monetti, was a Syracuse University student.

“Those of us whose loved ones were killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing  cannot imagine a greater tribute to their memories than protecting the threat to our national security posed by those who wish to attack the United States using our aviation system,” said Stephanie Bernstein, a member of the Committee until it was disbanded. Bernstein’s husband was killed in the bombing.

In 1988, a mid-air explosion killed 259 passengers on Pan American Flight 103, including 35 Syracuse University students and others from across New York and America. The nonpartisan Aviation Security Advisory Committee comprised of 34 volunteer members, including family members of the victims, was created following this attack. Schumer explained that the Committee provided advice to federal government on measures to increase aviation safety since 1989 and Congress made the Committee permanent in 2014. 95 percent of the Committee’s recommendations have been adopted, and the Committee’s research on bomb-detection scanners and recommendations helped federal authorities tighten security following 9/11.

Last month, however, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security delivered termination notices to the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, removing all of its members.

In a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Schumer said this change was not only wrong but risked the safety of our skies and potentially violated the law by clearly attempting to evade congressional intent. Schumer demanded the Committee and its members, especially family members of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 who were callously removed, be re-instated immediately.

Schumer’s letter to Secretary Noem can be found below:

Dear Secretary Noem:

I write to you today regarding a critical issue that directly impacts aviation security throughout our country and across the globe, which is the elimination of all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory committees, including the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC). The elimination of ASAC could have perilous effects to the safety of the flying public and the security of our skies, and I have serious concerns for the manner in which DHS has terminated the members of this committee.

As you may know, ASAC was created following the deadly terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988, which killed 259 onboard, including 35 Syracuse University students. The Aviation Security Stakeholder Participation Act of 2014 made ASAC permanent. However, in a memo dated January 20, 2025, members of ASAC, including family members of victims of Pan Am Flight 103, were informed by DHS that all current memberships on its advisory committees were being immediately terminated, as the agency prioritizes national security and eliminates a ‘misuse of resources’.

The assertion that ASAC is a ‘misuse of resources’ by the Agency is insulting to the lives lost by an act of terror nearly 40 years ago, and to the work done by ASAC to create security and safety reforms across the board that have created a safer flying public since that tragic day. Since the creation of ASAC, approximately 95% of its recommendations to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been adopted, including when the committee had studied and recommended the use of bomb-detection scanners amongst federal security agencies which was implemented quickly in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It is no question that since ASAC’s inception, which was directly in response to the Pan Am 103 crash, our skies have gotten safer and more secure. Effectively shutting down ASAC by removing all of its members clearly avoids congressional intent of mandating this permanent committee. The safety of our skies needs to be a top priority for DHS, especially in the wake of recent instances of security breaches in our airports and our ever-evolving threat environment. Therefore, I urge you to immediately reinstate ASAC and the members that were dismissed.

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