"Australian airport fails security random tests, gov't cannot guarantee box cutters will be detected"

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Gaming the system to increase checkpoint throughput?
Airport fails security test
BY DAVID NANKERVIS
Australia - The Adelaide Sunday Mail


ADELAIDE Airport security has failed random tests, raising concerns metal
detecting machines may be calibrated too high to be effective.

When questioned about reports of the breaches, the Federal Government said
it could not guarantee metal objects the size of box cutters could be
detected as passengers were processed at the airport. Box cutters were used
by 9/11 hijackers, sparking a worldwide upgrade of airport security. 

Alarmed by the Government's admission, the Flight Attendants Association
(FAA) is seeking an urgent meeting with the Federal Transport Department to
raise concerns over security standards at Adelaide Airport, which handles
more than five million passengers a year.

After a tip-off from readers, the Sunday Mail can confirm bunches of metal
keys have passed "walk-through" metal detectors on four occasions in the
past month at the security checkpoint for entry to the airport arrival and
departure lounges.

When repeated by Sunday Mail reporters, similar results were found.

The Federal Department of Transport and Road Safety - which oversees airport
security - said metal detectors should be calibrated to identify weapons and
other metallic items, including keys.

When asked if metal objects of a similar size and weight as a bunch of keys
- such as small knives or box cutters - could avoid detection, the
department declined to comment for "security reasons".

The FAA said walk-through metal detectors at other capital city airports
detected items as small as belt buckles. "Our concern is, if a bunch of keys
is not detected, other metal objects could be passing through undetected as
well," an association spokeswoman said. "There is a duty of care for staff
and the public when it comes to security, and standards should be consistent
at all airports. So we will be raising this issue with the appropriate
authorities."

The transport department said it carried out regular inspections of airport
security equipment across the nation.

"However, departmental inspectors have no involvement in the actual
calibration of the equipment," department spokesman Thomas Parkes said.

It was this calibration that determined what amount of metal detected by the
machine would lead to a warning sound, according to security metal detector
manufacturers DETEC.

"It's fair to say if the machine is not set to detect a bunch of keys it
would also not detect another metal object of the same size or weight,"
company spokesman Kelvin Wilson said.

When asked the same question about detection of other metal objects, given a
bunch of keys did not trip security alarms, Adelaide Airport Ltd also
declined to comment.

Bunches of keys also passed undetected through entrances to the Adelaide
District Court and Port Adelaide Magistrates' Court, a Sunday Mail
investigation found.

The Law Society of SA - representing solicitors and barristers - said
security systems at law courts were essential.

Metal detectors were introduced to avoid a repeat of an incident that saw a
women held hostage by a knife-wielding defendant in the District Court in
1999, society president Margaret Kelly said.

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