Suspicious Bags On Swa!!

[T1bubba]

I picked the wrong day to go outside security for some food...

T1


Screeners' mistake holds up 40 flights

Carlos Miller
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 18, 2003 12:00 AM


A procedural blunder by Transportation Security Administration screeners disrupted flights for more than 4,000 passengers Friday night at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

More than 40 flights were delayed for several hours while police and federal security officials combed the airport in search of a man possibly carrying a knife.

It is not clear if the man, who minutes earlier had been waved through the security checkpoint by screeners, even had a knife, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.

"The possibility exists that something may have gone through," she said.

It started at 5:10 p.m. in Terminal 4 when a screener spotted what appeared to be a knife in a passenger's carry-on bag as it passed through an X-ray machine.

That screener informed a second screener, who searched the bag but found nothing, Luber said. The second screener then waved the passenger through. He was never located.

Within minutes, transportation agency officials realized they failed to follow through with the third step required for such incidents, which led to the evacuation of the six concourses. Luber did not describe what the required third step entailed, citing security reasons.

It was two hours before passengers were allowed back inside the evacuated areas.

During that time, tempers flared as thousands of passengers stood in lines that stretched clear across the terminal.

"This is a result of the Bush administration, which wants to treat us like cattle," said Mark Williams, 52, a University of Colorado professor who had been waiting in line for more than two hours.

One passenger, trying not to let the setback interfere with her weekend partying plans, butted heads with a police officer who snatched her beer as she stood in line.

"The airport owes me five bucks for that," she said, adding that she carried the beer out of an airport bar.

 

[colorado418]

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"This is a result of the Bush administration, which wants to treat us like cattle," said Mark Williams, 52, a University of Colorado professor who had been waiting in line for more than two hours.

A brilliant statement here. Hmm. Yes, Bush is to blame. It clearly states in the article that they did not follow procedure.

What percentage of TSA folks had a criminal background when they finally got done checking them? 10%. I think 5,000 of our TSA "security" folks had criminal backgrounds. Maybe is was stealing from their employer, you know, like taking a Big Mac when it was not break time???

 

[colorado418]

College Student Caught

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A 20-year-old North Carolina student has admitted placing box cutters and other suspicious materials aboard two Southwest Airlines planes, law enforcement sources told CNN Friday.

The admission, the sources said, came during questioning of the individual by federal authorities in Baltimore, Maryland.

In a written statement, FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler said the individual questioned is "believed to be responsible for the matter involving box cutters and other items found on Southwest Airlines planes.

"Based on the investigation conducted thus far, this individual does not appear to pose any further threat to airline security," Chandler said.

"This investigation is continuing and is being conducted by FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces ... in coordination with the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. Proceedings are anticipated this Monday in United States District Court in Baltimore."

The sources said the individual -- described as a male student of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina -- was a passenger aboard the planes, and not an employee of the airline or airports. They said the individual is cooperating with officials, and they stressed he has not been arrested or detained.

The Transportation Security Administration said the individual was tracked down, in part, due to an e-mail sent to the TSA last month in which he mentioned items that were "linked" to the Thursday night discovery.

"TSA and the FBI have had this individual's activities under investigation for several months," the TSA said in a statement.

"He left a trail," said a Bush administration official, who added that the e-mail gives details of locations, times and places where contraband was put on the airplanes.

The items found aboard the two planes included box cutters, clay that resembled plastic explosives and bleach, sources familiar with the investigation said. The liquid was contained in suntan lotion bottles; the clay was inside Play-Doh containers.

The material was discovered in plastic bags in the bathrooms of the Southwest planes in New Orleans and Houston, during maintenance checks. The Houston flight originated in Austin, Texas; the New Orleans flight originated in Orlando, Florida.

Notes in each package "indicated the items were intended to challenge the TSA's checkpoint security procedures," a Southwest statement said.

The man claimed to have done this on other planes, not just the two on which items were found, the administration official said. However, no other items have been discovered.

Southwest Airlines said it searched its fleet of 385 aircraft and found no similar items.

The official said that in the e-mail the man characterized what he was doing as "civil disobedience," indicating he knew he was breaking the law but believed it was necessary to point out weaknesses in aviation security.

Security checks ordered