"Probe of Australian airport security breach"

Monday, July 26, 2004

Probe on airport tarmac walk
By Tim Clarke
The Australian Associated Press


SECURITY bosses at Perth Airport have launched an investigation into how
a man was allowed to walk on to the tarmac and then board a Qantas
flight bound for Singapore yesterday.

Airport security was alerted when it was realised the elderly gentleman,
who was described as confused and disoriented, had managed to walk
across the airport apron and board the Boeing 767.

Qantas flight 77, which had started to taxi before the additional
passenger was discovered, was returned to the terminal so passengers
could be rescreened and the aircraft searched.

The 11.30am flight was delayed more than two hours.

Aviation security manager Steve Whitmore said at no time was the safety
of the flight at risk. 

But he did admit he was concerned as to how the passenger was allowed to
wander onto the airport apron and then board the plane.

"From a security point of view, the safety of the aircraft or the
passengers was never compromised," Mr Whitmore said.

"But the problem was that we were unsure as to who he was able to come
into contact with before boarding the plane."

Electronic registers on doors leading to the airport apron will be
checked and staff interviewed as part of the investigation. The
passenger might also be spoken to, Mr Whitmore said.

The incident is the latest in a string of security lapses involving the
airport, which services more than six million passengers a year.

Last month, a drunken Australian tourist tried to force his way into the
cockpit and threatened to crash a Garuda flight from Perth to Denpasar.

In May, an intoxicated passenger tried to open an emergency hatch during
a Thai Airways flight between Bangkok and Perth, while last September a
man rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle into the airport's domestic
terminal claiming he had a bomb.


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