"Airport Security Breach Report"

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

ASR's Breach Report
Airport Security Report


DATE & SITE: Jan. 24 - Chengdu Airport (China) CIRCUMSTANCES: A passenger on
board Sichuan Airlines Flight B3043 ordered pilots to alter the course of
the plane. When they refused to comply, he detonated a self-made bomb.
RESULT: Security personnel on board the plane, carrying 11 passengers and a
crew of five, quickly brought the man under control. Police said the bomb
was not powerful enough to cause significant damage and only caused minor
injuries to the disgruntled passenger.

DATE & SITE: Jan. 25 - Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport CIRCUMSTANCES: A
TSA screener found a .38-caliber semiautomatic gun inside a shoe in a man's
carry-on bag. RESULT: The man was arrested and later indicted on one felony
count of attempting to carry a weapon on an aircraft. He faces up to 10
years in prison and $250,000 in fines. He was on his way to board a Frontier
Airline flight to New York.

DATE & SITE: Jan. 30 - Copenhagen Kastrup Airport (Denmark) CIRCUMSTANCES: A
routine X-ray of two male passenger's carry-on baggage revealed a 9-mm
semiautomatic handgun with 15 rounds and a .22-caliber handgun with two
rounds inside a rolled-up sleeping bag in one of the bags. RESULT: The two
Norwegian men, ages 24 and 25, were arrested. They were in route to
Amsterdam. Danish officials said the men were not part of any terrorist
group. One man was jailed for three days, while the man whose bag contained
the guns was jailed for 14 days.

DATE & SITE: Jan. 31 - Reno-Tahoe International Airport CIRCUMSTANCES: A TSA
screener spotted a handgun in the carry-on bag of an American Airlines pilot
around 6 a.m. during a X-ray scan. The screener opened the bag and found a
semi-automatic weapon. RESULT: TSA officials and Reno airport police were
called. They questioned the pilot for about one hour and released him. The
pilot was on-duty at the time and was headed to Los Angeles on a Southwest
Airlines flight. The pilot told the TSA security director that he didn't
know the weapon was in his bag. The investigation is ongoing.

DATE & SITE: Feb. 2 - Fuzhou Airport (China) CIRCUMSTANCES: A male passenger
pulled out a soda can filled with an unidentifiable type of fuel and began
pouring the liquid down the aisle of an Air China Flight 1505 from Beijing
to Fuzhou. He apparently said he wanted to take the plane down and lit
several seats on fire. RESULT: The man was subdued after a struggle with
several crewmembers. Several passengers and crew put out the fire with
blankets. The plane carrying 149 passengers landed safely. A flight
attendant reportedly said she noticed the man looked suspicious as he held a
can in one hand and a lighter in the other. She reported him to other
crewmembers and security personnel on the plane tried to move passengers
from around the man just before he set the fire.

DATE & SITE: Feb. 6 - Washington Reagan National Airport CIRCUMSTANCES: ATA
Flight 295 had just pushed back and was taxiing toward the runway when a man
passed a note with three words ("fast, neat, average") to a flight attendant
and asked her to give it to the captain. RESULT: The pilot had no idea what
the note meant and returned the plane with 90 passengers and six crewmembers
back to the gate. Police took the man into custody. He claimed to be a
neighbor of an Air Force Academy cadet and said an Air Force pilot would
understand the note. The ATA pilot did not have military experience. The
flight left more than one hour late and arrived in Chicago without further
incident. (The "fast,neat,average" phrase applies to a rating of food and
service at the academy's dining hall. The code words apparently often
brought about invitations to tour the cockpit or ride in the jumpseat.)

DATE & SITE: Feb. 6 - San Francisco International Airport CIRCUMSTANCES: A
woman with two carry-on bags sprinted through an unmanned security
checkpoint at 10:46 a.m. RESULT: It wasn't until 1 p.m. that TSA officials
evacuated the terminal. By then the woman had boarded United Airlines Flight
284, which departed at 11:30 p.m. Ten other flights also departed. The woman
apparently pushed aside a table before running through the closed checkpoint
at Terminal 3. Security screeners had their backs turned toward the woman.
About 10 to 15 minutes elapsed before security personnel realized there was
a breach. Security officials said they tried to find the woman, but lost her
in the crowd. They then had to review tapes. The woman was a Taiwanese
national with a student visa and trying to get home to her host family in
Baltimore. She was questioned upon arrival at Baltimore-Washington
International Airport. She was released pending a FBI investigation.

DATE & SITE: Feb. 6 - Baltimore- Washington International Airport
CIRCUMSTANCES: A Northwest Airlines pilot notified air traffic control that
he had three unruly male passengers onboard Flight 1134 from Detroit.
RESULT: Two F-16 jet fighters were launched around 8 a.m. from Andrews Air
Force Base to escort the flight into Baltimore. The male passengers were
released without being charged after being questioned by the FBI.

DATE & SITE: Feb. 7 - Budapest Ferihegy Airport (Hungary) CIRCUMSTANCES: A
young man from Lebanon arrived with a false passport and border guards
detained him. He was placed in a waiting room, where he set fire to
furniture in an effort to escape and avoid deportation. RESULT: The fire
caused damage of around $1,700 to the area. Traffic at the airport was
delayed by about 20 minutes.

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