"More Changes Ahead After CVG Airport Security Breach"

Sunday, February 20, 2005

More Changes Ahead After CVG Airport Security Breach 
WCPO-TV Ch 9 (ABC), Cincinnati (OH)


A misunderstanding that shut down the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport (CVG) last weekend will mean changes. 

And those changes in security may cost you more time when you fly out of
CVG. 

What they're calling a simple misunderstanding revealed a genuine security
concern at the the airport last Sunday. 

As of this week TSA screeners are now being used to watch people not only as
they enter the secure area, but also as they leave. 

The change comes on the heels of what officials call a misunderstanding. 

The changes were implemented after a man wearing a ball cap flew in from
Mexico City last Sunday. 

He was exiting the secure area when he decided to turn around and go back
in. 

Airport police determined he was merely confused about where to go, but the
real concern was revealed when the alarm archway didn't go off. 

"The equipment up until Sunday appeared to be working fine," said Paul
Wisniewski. 

Wisniewski is the federal security director at the airport. 

He showed 9News what the alarm is supposed to do if someone walks the wrong
way. 

Wisniewski believes the device failed to work when a large number of people
went through at once. 

"It was here before we arrived, was installed by Delta years ago," said
Wisniewski. "I'm not even sure when and the manufacturer of the equipment no
longer exists." 

So now TSA screeners like Tonya Zimmerman are assigned 24-hours a day to
watch the exit. 

"If you just stay focused on watching the people go out that direction and
if anybody tries to turn around that are already past -- you then make them
keep going," explained Zimmerman. 

She also explains what she would do if she saw someone moving the wrong way.


"First I'd grab my radio and I would holler 'Breach, breach!,' that someone
was coming through the exit and then on the inside they would drop the
gates," said Zimmerman. "We would stop them as soon as possible." 

But now that a person must watch a machine to make sure it does its job,
this will likely result in delays for passengers headed out. 

"It takes half a dozen people to man a lane and if I've got to assign a half
a dozen people in the course of a day to checking the check point there
might be a certain time when I might not be able to man a lane," said
Wisniewski. 

The airport is looking into a state-of-the-art security system which would
use security cameras to monitor the exit area, but funding for that could be
some time off. 

And finally, three new walk-through explosive detectors will be installed
soon. 

Officials hope that when those are in place we won't have to take off our
shoes when we go through the checkpoint.


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