"Security breach was Oakland Airport's third this year"

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Security breach was Oakland Airport's third this year
By Erik N. Nelson
The Oakland (CA) Tribune


Authorities still have not found a man who slipped past Oakland
International Airport screeners Tuesday morning, in the third such security
breach this year at the airport.

Flights were stopped for about two hours while city, county and federal
authorities searched the terminal areas for the man, who entered through the
passenger exit in Terminal 1. It was the third breach this year. In the
other two incidents, in January and February, the interloper was never
found. As of 2:30 p.m., Oakland Police, Alameda County Sheriff's deputies
and Transportation Security Administration screeners had yet to find the man
who entered the terminal's secure boarding area without being checked for
weapons or explosives.

The trouble began at 9:05 a.m., when the man, described as 55 to 65,
6-foot-2 with brown and green clothing walked past a sheriff's deputy and a
Transportation Security Administration guard, authorities said.

``He went through the exit lane that is located adjacent to the Terminal 1
passenger screening area,'' said airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes.

Both incoming and outgoing flights were stopped and both terminals were
sealed off and separated as searchers swept gates 26 through 32, said
authorities familiar with the situation.

The terminals, which were not evacuated during the incident, were reopened
at 10:43 a.m. Airlines held flights so passengers who were kept from the
terminals could get through long security lines and make their flights, some
of which were delayed as much as two hours, said airport spokeswoman Jane
Holloway.

The year's third case of someone bypassing airport security raises questions
about the effectiveness of current security measures.

``Three in seven months is a lot. It is unusual,'' said Stephen Irwin, a
security consultant and former supervisor and manager at both San Francisco
and Oakland Airports. ``How can anybody tell you right now, how do you know
that individual, unscreened, didn't have a bomb or a gun on them?''

But Barnes said the security system in place did assure passengers' safety.

``We didn't find this male today but we took all the necessary steps so that
we can ensure a safe and secure facility for our users,'' Barnes said.
``There's a lot of people and lives at stake, so we have very stringent
security protocols that we follow.''

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez also said his agency ``took the necessary
steps'' to address the ``security incident.''

``Sometimes they find 'em sometimes they don't,'' he said. ``Sometimes they
have a complete description, sometimes they don't.''

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