Hole in airport security

[BVS]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Southwest/09/09/plane.stowaway/index.html

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal officials are investigating how a man managed to hide inside a crate that was flown by a major cargo carrier from New York to Dallas, Texas.

Charles McKinley wanted to go to his father's house in Dallas and decided to "ship himself rather than pay for a ticket," said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Luber.

McKinley secured himself in the crate, apparently with some help, along with his computer and some clothes.

The incident highlighted a potential hole in aviation security. "

 

[verte76]

Good grief! This could have been a bomb!! Yes or no?? It scares me!

 

[nbcrusader]

It is incidents like this and the boaters who breached JFK's perimeter that will help refine and focus future security efforts.

 

[Rono]

And i am not allowed to bring my darts on the plane,..

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I just saw this on the news. I know it's serious really, but it's also quite amusing.

 

[beegee]

it's not amusing to me at all.
it's terrifying.

 

[deep]

I want this to be a publicity stunt.

I want to hear the guy shipped the crate and then drove to where it was at a crawled inside and had a friend nail is shut.

I want to hear that traveling in the cargo compartment with temperature extremes and fuel exhaust? and lack of oxygen most times could be fatal.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

C'mon, a guy decides to MAIL himself home for Christmas and it doesn't even raise a smile?

 

[beegee]

C'mon, a guy decides to MAIL himself home for Christmas and it doesn't even raise a smile?

no. it doesn't.
it scares the hell out of me.

 

[Dreadsox]

It is incidents like this and the boaters who breached JFK's perimeter that will help refine and focus future security efforts.

This happened at Logan Airport in Boston and at the Nuke Plant in Plymouth with divers.

 

[enggirl]

This isn't a surprise. I have some experience with airport security, and it's known that the cargo carriers don't check everything that goes into planes. Actually, there was a news story recently about the big x-ray machines (the ones that checked luggage go into) and how they're so expensive that cargo does not go through them--there's just so much being sent via passenger planes that it's too $$ and too time-consuming.
I'm afraid it'll take a tragedy before someone says, "Hey, howsabout we check all of the cargo?"

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

From what I understand you can still buy a ticket then walk up to the counter and check in your luggage (bomb) then walk away and never set foot in the airplane. Does anybody know if this is still true ?

 

[enggirl]

From what I understand you can still buy a ticket then walk up to the counter and check in your luggage (bomb) then walk away and never set foot in the airplane. Does anybody know if this is still true ?

You can do this...but if they don't have a passenger to match the checked luggage, they'll go through the luggage compartment and get all luggage that goes with the missing customer off the plane. Everyone has to match up. Plus, the Xray machines that scan checked luggage are looking for bombs, and they're so good at it that they alarm if they find things that they even *think* are bombs.

 

[zonelistener]

I work for an airline in management and training...so, I have to be VERY WELL versed on FAA rules and regulations. Let me debunk some false stuff here:

POSITIVE BAG MATCH
Every bag that goes on an "originating" or "International" flight must have a passenger attached to it. What does this mean? IF you are flying from Las Vegas to New York with a stop in Chicago...if you do not get on the plane in Las Vegas...your luggage is pulled from that plane in Las Vegas. An airline will take a delay and unload a full plane, rather than get a STEEEEEEP fine for not meeting the positive bag match. Very steep. In addition, there's 100% screening of checked luggage (they either go through X-ray machines, swiped for explosives or hand searched (dumped).

CARGO ON PASSENGER AIRCRAFT
I just went through carg training three weeks ago. Every piece of cargo goes through extensive checks before being accepted by the airline. There are six or seven security procedures to go through before you accept the cargo...then there are a few more before you load the cargo. And, all "Cargo agents" are tested twice a year on the different devices that they are searching for.

CARGO AIRCRAFT and CARRIERS
I don't know any of the rules....we do not deal with them. This is the type of aircraft that was used for this shipment from JFK to DFW. Kitty Hawk, the company that flew the shipment (the guy), uses old TWA 727s that have been made into cargo planes. The old passenger area is now a cargo area...and it is often pressurized to some extent.

This is not so much of an "airline" issue as it is a "cargo carrier" issue. Obviously the cargo carriers have some security breaches that need to be dealt with.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

we have a member here who works for the TSA, too bad she hardly posts here in anymore. i'd be curious to see what she is able to say about this.

 

[enggirl]

we have a member here who works for the TSA, too bad she hardly posts here in anymore. i'd be curious to see what she is able to say about this.

I wonder who it is. I trained TSA agents last year before the Nov deadline. So I have some info--but I'm sure a lot has changed since then. It's good to hear, from zonelistener, that cargo on passenger planes goes through checks. When I was instructing, it was one of those things that we were given little information about, and that the students always asked about. But what we were told was that it was up to the cargo companies. And then, recently, I saw something on the news that made it sound as if the cargo companies didn't have to check all of the things they were sending. I don't know if it was faulty information, or faulty reporting.