PAT ME DOWN? I'm driving... Sorry...
Airport screeners missed weapons
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Undercover investigators were able to sneak explosives and weapons past security screeners at 15 airports nationwide, according to a government report on aviation security.
The government watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security, Clark Kent Ervin, delivered the results of the tests in a classified report to members of Congress. "The performance was poor," said Ervin, the department's inspector general, in releasing a less detailed version Wednesday.
The tests were done during the second half of 2003. But they highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in the nation's aviation security system, particularly in detecting explosives such as those that Russian authorities say were used to bring down two airliners last month.
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of a House aviation subcommittee, confirmed that the longer, classified report showed weapons and explosives got by screeners. He said the results on weapons were "bad enough," but the results on explosives were "absolutely horrendous."
An earlier report in 2003 by the Government Accountability Office had found that undercover agents were able to slip guns, knives and box cutters past screeners.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the government installed explosive-detection machines in airports nationwide for checked baggage. But it has not installed equipment to check for explosives on all passengers and their carry-on bags. They are sent through metal detectors and only occasionally checked by explosive trace detection equipment.
"Unfortunately, it may take some horrific wake-up call to get attention," Mica said.
Ervin's report blamed poor training and management of the thousands of screeners who work for the Transportation Security Administration, a division of the Homeland Security department. It also cited the need for better equipment and technology.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the House aviation panel, said: "You're not going to find plastic explosives with a metal detector, no matter how hard you try."
TSA officials said improvements have been made since Ervin's tests, which were done from July to November 2003. Walk-through explosive-detection machines are now being tested at five airports. Machines that can detect trace amounts of explosives on documents are being tested at four airports. And airport screeners recently were given more authority to conduct "pat-downs" of passengers in an effort to detect explosives hidden under clothing.
"We're aggressively pursuing all the solutions available to us," TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said.
Mica and other members of Congress are promoting the use of low-radiation X-ray machines that reveal what is under passengers' clothes. DeFazio said privacy concerns have slowed their development.
The lack of explosive-detection technology at passenger checkpoints nationwide "absolutely drives me out of my mind," Mica said. "It's so frustrating."
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...-weapons_x.htm
Linear Mode
