"Flight gate check reveals knives missed by security"

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Flight gate check reveals knives missed by security 
BY AARON SANDERFORD
The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star 


A midmorning flight from Lincoln was delayed for about an hour Wednesday
when airport employees found what officials later described as
"decorative" knives in the carry-on luggage of two passengers.

The 11:05 a.m. United Express flight from Lincoln to Chicago, No. 5752,
usually carries about 70 passengers, said John Wood, the Lincoln Airport
Authority's executive director. An exact head count was unavailable. 

Passengers were beyond security screeners and in the process of boarding
when part of a larger group of travelers from Uzbekistan were tagged by
the airline's computer system for additional screening, he said. 

Before the group boarded and while a couple were going through a
hand-search of their carry-on bags, airport employees found two
ceremonial-type knives in their luggage, officials said, blades often
given as gifts. 

All passengers on board were asked to deplane, he said, and they were
sent a second time through security while the plane was searched.
Shortly after noon, the flight left, minus two bits of unwanted cargo. 

"They double-checked who these people were, found that they were on
State Department visas, and they were allowed to re-board," Wood said,
"without the ceremonial knives, of course." 

The idea that Lincoln's contract screeners missed the knives was not
lost on airport management. Officials with the Transportation Safety
Administration were investigating, although they could not be reached to
comment. 

"I haven't seen them," Wood said. "But apparently these were small, very
thin blades, kind of like a letter opener." 

Lincoln Municipal Airport, unlike Omaha's Eppley Airfield, is still
using outside screeners. Omaha's federal screeners started Tuesday. Wood
said Lincoln's federal screeners are expected sometime before November.


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