"Brisbane airport security breach"

Saturday, May 22, 2004

Brisbane airport security breach
The Australian


A PASSENGER from Singapore has managed to breach security at Brisbane
International Airport today, bringing arrivals and departures to a
screeching halt.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) corporate relations manager Jim Carden
said the airport faced four-hour delays after the passenger arrived in the
"sterile" section of the airport without the required security checks at
about 6.45am (AEST).

He said that at 10am BAC had made the tough decision to recheck all
passengers in the sterile area, which encompasses the no-mans-land entry
point of international airport arrivals up to the point where they are
officially declared on Australian soil, rather than put people's safety at
risk.

Mr Carden said about 1700 passengers would be affected.

"This is something that happens regularly at airports throughout the world,
and it is up to the airport to decide whether to single out the one
passenger or to recheck all people in the area," he said. 

"We decided that the safety and security of the airport was paramount."

Mr Carden said BAC apologised for all the delays this action would cause and
he asked all affected people to bear with them while they sorted out the
situation.

"We want everyone to rest assured that we are doing all we can to find out
how it happened and what we can do to ensure it never happens again," he
said.

Mr Carden said that details of the incident were sketchy and he was unable
to say the age or the sex of the person involved, or how authorities became
aware of the breach.

He urged anyone due to fly internationally or planning to pick up an
international traveller from Brisbane today to contact their airline for the
adjusted schedules.

Mr Carden said airport operations were expected to be back to normal by this
afternoon.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************