U.S. Flyers Deserve Better Than Swiss Cheese Security

With all the inconvenience and delays caused by new airport security measures to prevent a recurrence of the horrific terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, it is discouraging to say the least that so many potentially deadly weapons still slipped through what turned out to be a Swiss cheese safety net.

In a confidential memo obtained by USA Today, a host of appalling security breaches was revealed in an undercover investigation by the U.S. Transportation Department's inspector general, despite the high alert in effect at the nation's airports.

The probe found that airport screeners failed to stop prohibited items from getting through in 48 percent of the test runs. Over 70 percent of investigators carried knives past screeners; 30 percent carried a gun; 60 percent smuggled simulated explosive devices. Investigators also either secretly got on a plane or the airport tarmac half the time they tried.

It's true these tests took place before the new Transportation Security Administration took over the task of thwarting terrorism attempts from the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.

But is the new regime doing any better than its lame predecessors in keeping potentially deadly weapons off planes?

While assuring that “dramatic changes” have already been made, including the hiring of some 1,200 new supervisory screeners, it remains to be seen whether the TSA will pass the undercover test that the inspector general is hopefully running continuously. It is a risk management test we cannot afford to fail.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, April 1, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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U.S. Flyers Deserve Better Than Swiss Cheese Security

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