"Logan has among the nation's worst airport security"

Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Logan has among the nation's worst airport security 
The Associated Press


BOSTON (AP) Logan International Airport has one of the worst security
records among the nation's largest airports, and has by far the worst
track record for the most serious violation: guns and dummy bombs
smuggled through checkpoints. 

Logan, the nation's 18th busiest airport, had the fifth-highest number
of security violations recorded by FAA agents between 1991 and 2000,
logging a total of 531 violations, The Boston Globe reported, citing ten
year's worth of Federal Aviation Administration data. 

Dallas/Ft. Worth had the highest number of violations among the nation's
major airports, with 1,218 violations, followed by John F. Kennedy in
New York with 876, San Francisco with 666, Los Angeles with 554, then
Boston. 

But Logan was cited far more often for real or fake weapons being
smuggled through security. FAA agents slipped 234 guns and inert hand
grenades and bombs past guards or X-ray machines during the
ten-year-period. 

That's three times the number of violations as Chicago's O'Hare Airport,
which has nearly three times as many passengers as Logan. 

The FAA would not comment on the frequency of security testing, and the
FAA records do not indicate agents test more frequently at Logan than
other airports. 

The vast majority of the violations were logged by the airlines
themselves, which are responsible for security checkpoints, rather than
Massport, which has been sharply criticized in the aftermath of the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that ended with hijacked airliners smashing
into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

The two planes that crashed into the twin towers originated at Logan.
Investigators believe the hijackers used boxcutters which were allowed
under FAA rules and are now banned to commandeer the flights. 

Virginia Buckingham, executive director of Massachusetts Port Authority,
which runs the airport, said the data suggest that the federal
government should take over airport security functions. 

''This is why we believe this needs to be turned over to a federal
security force,'' she said. ''...Even with the additional measures put
in place since Sept. 11, through testing or just ignorance, it is clear
dangerous items are still getting through, not just at Logan, but at
airports around the country.'' 

The Boston Herald reported in Wednesday's editions that after the
attacks, law enforcement officials smuggled bullets and a buck knife
through Logan checkpoints last week. 

Massport spokesman Jose Juves said Massport immediately informed the FAA
and airlines about the violations. 

Jim Borghesani, spokesman for acting Gov. Jane Swift, said Swift planned
to announce on Thursday a special task force to review Massport
operations and recommend changes. 

Aviation specialists believe all major airports are vulnerable to
security breaches. 

''Boston is not so much worse, or other airports are not so much better,
as to have any major differences,'' said David Stempler, president of
the Air Travelers Association, a Washington passenger group. 

''It is a system set up for failure. By laying security requirements
onto companies that are there for profit, there is no motivation to
exceed the minimum standards by the FAA,'' he said. 

Logan director of security Joseph M. Lawless said that there has been a
rush to blame Massport and paint the authority as patronage-laden in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

''We are being blamed for things over which we have no control,''
Lawless said. 

''This need to blame people, it's not happening in Newark, it's not
happening in Dulles, where the other planes were hijacked, it's only
happening here in Boston,'' he said.

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