Security Briefs - Jan. 7 - Jan. 10
- FedEx Unwittingly Ships High Radiation Package
- Man Fined for Airport Shutdown
- Breached Gate Delays Flight at Dallas Airport
- DOT Begins Hiring Airport Security Directors
- Airport Design Flaws Cited in DOJ Report
- Rep. Dingell Forced to Strip at Airport
- Mineta Hails Appointment of Magaw to Security Post
- State MVAs Seek Uniform Licenses
- Airlines Dealing with Deadlines, Delays
- U.S. Ponders Extending Cargo Security Shield
- Man Fined for Airport Shutdown
FedEx Unwittingly Ships High Radiation Package
FedEx Corp. unknowingly shipped a package last week emitting so much radiation that the recipient, Source Production and Equipment Co., which packages radiation sources for testing, has been unable to get near enough to measure it directly, the New York Times reported Thursday.FedEx officials said this did not indicate a security breakdown because both the shipper and recipient were known to the company, allowing for easy approval of the shipment.
If terrorists had tried to ship radioactive material they would have failed because extra precautions would have been taken in the case of an unknown shipper or recipient, the company said. The package was sent from the Paris facilities of a Swedish manufacturer, Studsvik.
At the Texas office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Chuck Cain, the acting director of the materials branch, told the Times that "this event could have had very serious consequences."
Man Fined for Airport Shutdown
A man who breached security and temporarily shut down Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport in November, disrupting flights and air cargo deliveries, was fined $3,300 Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Associated Press reported.In a Nov. 16 incident, Michael Lasseter ran past two security guards and down an up escalator at the airport, temporarily shutting down the airport and disrupting flights and cargo flow, the AP said.
Lasseter, who said he left the airport’s secure area to retrieve a camera bag and was rushing back to his young son he had left at an airport gate, was assessed the maximum fine allowed under FAA regulations. Transport Topics
Breached Gate Delays Flight at Dallas Airport
A security breach at a gate at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport prompted a five-and-a-half-hour delay of a Korean Air Lines flight late Wednesday, KEYE-TV reported on its Web site.Authorities said an unsecured gate resulted in a security sweep of three terminals, and forced about 200 passengers on a Korean Air flight to leave the plane and board again several hours later
Any interruption of normal air operation can disrupt cargo and truck hauls. Transport Topics
DOT Begins Hiring Airport Security Directors
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it is currently looking to hire federal security directors at the nation's 81 biggest airports.Each one will be given authority to tailor DOT’s overall mission of security to the specific needs of a particular airport, including passenger and cargo screening. Lessening the delays involved in passenger screening can contribute the efficient delivery of air cargo carried by trucks to and from airports.
DOT officials said they expect to have more than a handful hired by February. By the end of the year, directors will be in place at all 429 airports in the United States, the Associated Press reported.
On Feb. 19, the new Transportation Security Administration will take over aviation security from the airlines. Transport Topics
Airport Design Flaws Cited in DOJ Report
Passenger inspection areas at major U.S. airports are poorly designed and could allow passengers to slip through with contraband, a Justice Department report said.The report outlined problems could make airports susceptible to breaches that could close airports and could disrupt air cargo and subsequently ground transportation networks, including trucks.
he report, based on survey information from 1999, was made public Thursday in the wake of security concerns following Sept., the AP said.
The Associated Press said that the department’s inspector general pointed to inadequate supervision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service over inspections of international passengers. The INS said it would draft new security requirements for inspections and inspection areas. Areas at 42 international airports in the United States had numerous problems tracking passengers and monitoring passengers, the report said.
Among the problems were lack of alarms on emergency exits, no emergency call buttons and gates that could be circumvented, the AP said. Other problems focused on detaining problem passengers, with several airports found to have unsatisfactory holding facilities. Transport Topics
Rep. Dingell Forced to Strip at Airport
Security guards at Washington's Reagan National Airport forced Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) to strip to his underwear before boarding a flight on Jan. 5 after his metal hip repeatedly set off the metal detectors, the Associated Press reported.The security guards first made him take off his overcoat, then his suit coat and then his shoes and socks. However, when he still triggered metal detector alarms, the guards took him to a back room and asked him to remove his trousers.
The guards at the Northwest Airlines terminal did not believe his explanation about the metal hip, which he received 20 years ago, AP said.
The Washington Post reported that Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta apologized to Dingell several days later. A spokesman said that Mineta had also been subjected to rigorous probing at airports, but was never forced to strip. Transport Topics
Mineta Hails Appointment of Magaw to Security Post
Using constitutional authority which allows him to make "recess" appointments when Congress is not in session, President Bush appointed John Magaw head of the new Transportation Security Administration Jan.7, news services reported."John Magaw is a superb appointment," said Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. "He brings decades of wisdom, experience and leadership to our new Transportation Security Administration."
Magaw had been nominated earlier, but Congress did not address the nomination before going home for the holiday recess, Bloomberg reported.
Because of the nature of his appointment, Magaw will serve until the next session of Congress opens in January 2003, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
State MVAs Seek Uniform Licenses
As some officials call for a national identification card system, several state motor vehicle administrators are pushing for new, more uniform state-issued licenses, news services reported Tuesday.The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has proposed constructing a system of driver licenses, encoded with bar codes and biometric information like fingerprints and retinal scans as a sort of national ID card, the New York Times said.
After September 11, many felt that such a national ID system was necessary, but privacy and civil liberty groups said such a system which would allow government to track a citizen, would be an intrusion on individual rights, the Associated Press reported.
The Department of Transportation is expected to push states to encode certain identifying information onto the bar codes of licenses they issue, the AP said. Thirty-seven states already store similar information on their cards.
The new standard licenses would also put information into a database, and perhaps be used to share information with the Social Security Administration, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and other law enforcement agencies, the Times reported. Transport Topics
Airlines Dealing with Deadlines, Delays
The Federal Aviation Administration has decided to back off some plans to help reduce air traffic delays, the New York Times reported Tuesday.The airline industry continues to be hesitant about upcoming deadlines for baggage screening and scanning that luggage for explosives, the Washington Post said.
The FAA has pushed off plans to improve communications between planes and the ground in an effort to speed takeoffs and landings and a navigation program incorporating global positioning satellite technology.
The airline industry, however, expects to be fully compliant with FAA rules requiring all baggage be checked in some fashion by Jan. 18, the Post reported. Despite this, the airlines feel they will need some government help to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to run all luggage through scanners to detect any explosives.
The industry is waiting to work with the new Transportation Security Administration on the scanning issue. President Bush appointed John Magaw to the head the TSA on Jan. 7, news services said. Transport Topics
U.S. Ponders Extending Cargo Security Shield
In an effort to keep the United States safe from foreign terrorist attacks, some officials are looking to extend maritime security measures to overseas ports and loading docks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Some experts believe the current system of screening cargo as it comes into the U.S. leaves the country vulnerable and that inspecting cargo at its point of origin is a much better course of action, the Journal said.
The problem with so-called "point-of-origin" inspection is that it would have to take place on a huge scale, the Journal reported. The U.S. receives shipments from hundreds of countries and thousands of corporations and to inspect them all at the places where they are dispatched would be time-consuming and costly, the Journal said.
Such inspections could delay shipments and disrupt ground transportation networks, including trucks. Transport Topics
