TSA Watch: Security breach at Atlanta's airport?
TSA is in the spotlight again. This time for an alleged gaping hole in airport security at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which was exposed by an investigation from Atlanta's Channel 2 news team.
According to the television station, a whistleblower who works for Gate Gourmet, the world's largest airline catering company, stepped forward to report glaring security breaches he witnessed at the airport. And he brought video to prove himself. The whistleblower, who remains anonymous, took video that shows back doors being opened to allow several people through without swiping their badges and insecure access to catering carts destined to be loaded onto flights (one video shows the whistleblower putting an unauthorized orange juice container into one of these carts). "If I were some crazy lunatic, or Osama bin Laden sympathizer, I can come in and put anything on this plane," the whistleblower tells the TV station.
Neither the airport or the TSA responded to Channel 2's requests for comment (not counting generic statements reiterating the strict security procedures in place), though Gate Gourmet did offer a statement that said the video "does not capture the full extent of the vigorous, systematic, and multi-layered catering access control procedures that are in place," according to the TV station.
Security consultants who watched the videos and were interviewed by the TV station were stunned by the oversights. "The back door of this airport seems to be wide open," Brent Brown, a corporate security consultant, told the station. "This is a big, huge, gaping hole in aviation security right here."
According to TSA meeting minutes dug up by the station's investigation, there has been ongoing concern that catering operations are a soft spot in airport security.
What do you think? Watch the video and let me know. Do you think the video shows serious security breaches? Do you think this is the status quo at U.S. airports? If a group of emplyees who know each other arrive at work at the same time, is each opening the door with their badge, closing it in the face of a colleague so that he or she can than swipe their badge?
Email me at wrichardson@securitydirectornews.com to share your thoughts.
Whit Richardson
Managing Editor
Security Director News
Comments
This is a news story that has been sensationalized to bogus proportions. The fact that they quote a TSA regulation from 2001 shows that the information is out dated. TSA updates strategies and procedures on a continual basis.
It happens that if the video was shot during the AM Delta outbound flt. complex.. the OJ placed in the carts is a required item for these morning flights. I do see some faults in the procedures, but this is due to staffing short falls. Another point is the false statement that anyone can enter. Are you aware of the strict security procedures in place in order to be allowed access to the flight line and approach or service any kind of airplane?
Piontek: Thanks for your comment. Your points are well taken. I don't know more than what was in the Atlanta TV station's report, but the whistleblower did make some serious allegations, such as claiming that as an employee of Gate Gourmet he could sneak a gun onto a plane if he wanted to.
I'm not familiar with all the strict security procedures in place to prevent unwanted people from approaching planes on the tarmac, but I assume as an employee of an airline caterer scheduled to service a plane, it would be very hard.
It sounds like you're knowledgeable about airport security, so I'm interested in your opinion. Do you think airline caterers are the soft spot in security? Since airline caterers were raised as a potential weakness, has the TSA made the necessary changes to mitigate that risk?
Best,
Whit