The Last Marshal

In 1970 there were 40 hijackings on U.S. airlines; and to halt the illegal seizure of commercial aircraft, the Feder al Aviation Administration and the U.S. Customs Service in the same year initiated the sky-marshal program. Besides serving on the ground as plainclothes watchdogs, armed sky marshals wearing civilian clothes boarded commercial flights to thwart the would-be skyjacker.

At its peak in 1973, the sky-marshal program had 1,050 men flying selected U.S. routes. Last week the Department of Transportation, which has overseen the program since its inception, announced that the sky-marshal program has come to an end. The last sky marshal was taken out of the air in June. The ground inspection program that submits all passengers and baggage to electronic scrutiny had made the sky marshals obsolete. No sky marshal ever fired a shot aboard an aircraft, but the DOT called the program, which cost an estimated $150 million, a singular success. It spurred development of the technology that now dissuades or snares the potential skyjacker before boarding.

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