No-fly list doubled in past year

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - A suspect's failed attempt to bomb a plane in Detroit back on Christmas 2009 appears to have prompted the government to begin compiling new names of suspected terrorists.

The no-fly list jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected terrorists one year ago to about 21,000, according to government figures provided to the AP. Most people on the list are from other countries; about 500 are Americans.

The government lowered the standard for putting people on the list, and then scoured its files for anyone who qualified. The government will not disclose who is on its list or why someone might have been placed on it.

"It doesn't make me feel any safer that there are more people on the list because we know they're out there," Doris, a flyer WAVY.com spoke with, said. 

Charlotte, another flyer, added, "I think it just targets a lot of innocent people. I don't know what it takes to get on the list. I don't think it's that accurate."

The longer no-fly list comes at a time when some Al-Qaeda leaders have been killed, but the government apparently believes the threat is more extensive.

TSA Administrator John Pistole released this statement to WAVY.com, which read in part:

"... there are still people abroad and here in the U.S. that the Intel community deems a threat to aviation. We continue to remain vigilant and use sophisticated tools to ensure that known or suspected terrorists aren't able to fly to or within the United States."

The TSA now requires travelers to provide their full name, birth date and gender when buying an airline ticket, so it can screen them against the terror watch list. The agency says since it began watch list matching for aviation in 2009, its reduced misidentifications and cleared more than 99 percent of passengers when booking their flights.