Monday, July 23, 2007
ABC News
KNXV-TV's cameras caught a flight attendant going
through Sky Harbor airport's security, bags unchecked.
Every traveler knows the routine: take off your shoes, carry only three ounces of liquid, gear up for the metal detectors.
But four employees at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport - the ninth busiest in the nation - say that these precautions aren't always enforced, especially late at night. For some employees at the airport, it's a different story.
Lisa Fletcher, an investigative reporter at ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV, has discovered a 4½-hour nighttime window during which virtually anything can be brought into the secure side of Sky Harbor. At this time, the X-ray machines are off and the metal detectors are closed, which means bags with unknown contents can be carried to the airplane-accessible side of the airport.
A longtime Sky Harbor employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fletcher that late at night, security procedures change. Transportation Security Administration agents leave and airport security guards take over. An employee badge is all that's necessary for an all-access pass for four hours, every night.
"I'm telling you, Sky Harbor's not safe and hasn't been for a long time," the employee said. "It's a frightening situation. I've just simply never seen anything like it. I really honestly have not."
KNXV-TV's hidden cameras captured what security experts said is a disaster waiting to happen. They caught dozens clearing a checkpoint with bags unchecked.
"It is not security. It truly is not security," said Larry Wansley, the former head of security for American Airlines who now works as a security consultant for the government. "Anything can be going through there."
Wansley watched KNXV-TV's footage showing men with huge backpacks flash their ID card and walk through security without ever opening their bags. He saw one man with a bike show his ID and ride away with a crate on his back, unchecked.
"Clearly this is a very, very imminently dangerous situation," he said. "You've got the front door - TSA has locked it up for the better part of the day, the majority of the day - and then you throw open the back door to be exploited by those that would simply destroy us. And I simply do not understand it and I'm appalled. I'm shocked and I'm amazed."
Documents obtained by KNXV-TV prove that Sky Harbor has known about the lax security situation for two years. In 2005, airport officials hired an outside company to handle security after passenger flights finished for the day. According to the documents, the airport made the decision that no people or personal items would be searched by those guards.
The TSA said Sky Harbor's security plan is approved. But the TSA also dictates in a memo that whoever controls access to the airport must follow federal guidelines that "provide security against an unauthorized weapon, explosive or incendiary onto an aircraft."
Not only are security personnel not checking bags for dangerous devices, there are also reports that sometimes, they're falling asleep on the job. A document presented to the airport from local law enforcement outlines how one guard fell asleep for nearly 20 minutes. The Sky Harbor employee said that happens a lot.
"I've seen security guards fast asleep where they've not even looked up to see somebody walk through the checkpoint," the employee said.
Airport officials told KNXV-TV that allowing employee bags to go unchecked is a common practice. But when the clock strikes 4:30 a.m., security detail goes back to normal: TSA takes over, the X-rays are turned back on, the metal detectors work and everyone, including incoming employees like the ones who went by unchecked all night long, are screened.
The TSA told ABC News that the "airport is operating under an approved security program" and that the employees' equipment and belongings are subject to random TSA screenings at all times.
But the Sky Harbor employee doesn't think enough is being done. And that employee is not sure management is going to do anything to increase security.
"No one's doing anything about it," the employee said. "Management knows. I know management knows."
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http://archives.californiaaviation.org/airport/msg41662.html