Fearing Attacks, Officials Tighten Airport Security

ASHINGTON, Dec. 24 — Aviation officials from Paris to Los Angeles scrambled Wednesday to impose tougher security measures and forced thousands of passengers to change their Christmas Eve plans to gird for the possibility that terrorists could once again seek to attack the United States by hijacking an airplane.


The flurry of activity cast a cloud of anxiety over the holiday season, just as travel was expected to approach pre-Sept. 11 levels for the first time