Recent security breaches at the Orlando International Airport highlight a growing concern regarding airport safety in the current US heightened threat level environment. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, US air travel has undergone significant changes to provide safety and security to airplanes and their passengers. However, several areas of airport security have yet to reach the level of heightened security desired. As a result, threats to domestic airports remain a cause for concern.
Case in point, on Tuesday March 5, 2007, two airline workers allegedly used their work uniforms and airport identification badges to get into restricted areas of the Orlando International Airport and smuggle a duffel bag containing 14 firearms and eight pounds of marijuana onto a plane bound for Puerto Rico. The incident was uncovered after an informant notified the police while one of the workers was in transit with the contraband. After landing in San Juan, the individual was arrested and the guns and drugs were confiscated. It was later learned that two Federal Air Marshals were on board the flight.
Following the incident the Orlando International Airport announced that it would begin screening all employees who enter secure areas at the facility. However, other domestic airports did not immediately implement such security measures. Days later, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spearheaded a “security surge” at airports in Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Puerto Rico. These random unannounced searches were expected to spread to other regions of the country in an effort to target those who could potentially misuse their airport access. TSA Spokesman Christopher White addressed the enhanced security measures by stating, “We realize the insider threat is a real threat, and we have to address it.”
A Different Type of Threat
However, on March 16, 2007, Orlando media announced that sensitive documents detailing the Orlando International Airport’s layout, fuel-storage facilities, communications systems and power lines were found in a dumpster next to a warehouse owned by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority – which is located outside the airport perimeter.
The documents were apparently found by a teenage aviation enthusiast who, while exploring the warehouse, found the discarded documents and kept them as a souvenir. The documents were later turned over to a local Orlando newspaper after the recent reports of security breaches at the airport were detailed in media accounts. “As a general security practice, these are not the kind of documents that should end up in a dumpster,” said Robert Raffel, Orlando Airport’s lead security official. Although he disputes the sensitivity of the documents, claiming that other more “ultra sensitive” security plans exist and have not been compromised, it is a continuing concern that US airports are vulnerable to additional security breaches.
The Way Forward
Authorities entrusted with security at the airports are responding to these threats. It was announced on February 23, 2007, (which was prior to the arms smuggling incident) that the TSA would begin random screenings of workers at Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson International Airport, and would later expand the program to all US airports. After the Orlando Airport incident, calls by many legislators and concerned citizens have been renewed to make these screenings a permanent fixture of all airport security plans.
After the Orlando incident, a US Congressman, commented on what he perceived as a “gaping hole” in airport security. The Congressman stated that he wants airport workers to be screened in the same manner as passengers and their bags are visually inspected prior to reaching the gates and airplanes. The Congressman further concluded, “If we are going to require members of Congress and pilots and sky marshals to go through security, why shouldn’t we require the same of janitors and caterers…we’ve absolutely got to do a better job of screening these workers before they go into secure areas.”
Currently, employees who work in sensitive areas of airports are routinely fingerprinted and given background checks, but those checks do not guarantee that incidents such as the weapons smuggling venture won’t occur. Adding extra layers of security by ensuring all airport employees are required to submit to proper screening techniques would be a step in the right direction. If this threat is not addressed, the safety and security of airline passengers will continue to be at risk.
