Federal air security officials said the initial error that led to scrutiny of the Massachusetts Democrat should not have happened even though they recognize that the no-fly list is imperfect. But privately they acknowledged being embarrassed that it took the senator and his staff more than three weeks to get his name removed.
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The government does not make public the names or the total number of people on the list, which officials say is constantly updated. According to FBI documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act request, more than 350 Americans have been delayed or denied boarding since the list’s inception. The list has not led to any arrests, officials said.
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The TSA said passengers who have been tripped up by the list can contact the agency’s ombudsman and obtain a letter to show airline and security officials that they have been cleared.
David C. Fathi, who said he is apparently on the no-fly list, obtained such a letter but said it hasn’t done him much good. “By the time I show the letter, it is already too late,” he said.
Fathi, a U.S. citizen of Iranian ancestry and an ACLU attorney, said he has been stopped seven or eight times at airports, but not on every flight. Once he was led from the counter by armed police and questioned extensively at the airport.
The time Senior Senator Ted Kennedy was flagged by the No Fly List
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