By
Cynthia Hodges
Last November’s security breach at Charlotte/Douglas Airport in which a teenager
bypassed airport security to board an aircraft and later fell to his death
raised questions about gaps in airport security plans.
unauthorized individuals breach perimeter security, including tarmacs exposes a
vulnerability found at airports across the country.
In a recent study by a researcher at Purdue University on Indiana general
aviation airportsecurity perimeters, the author stated that the results
are typical at thousands of airports all over the country with budgets that do
not to include funds to adequately fence their properties, endangering
countless flights each year.
All 450 commercial airports in the U.S. must establish security
programs of varying complexity, depending on airport size and activity.
However, TSA is responsible for overseeing airport
operator efforts to maintain perimeter and access control security.
The Government Accountability Office, an independent organization
that releases annual reports on aviatoin security defines airport perimeters as the fence surrounding an
airport including access gates and access controls that prevent unauthorized
access to restricted areas and even the persons at the controls.
The results of an investigation into the death of Delvonte Tisdale by a taskforce assembled
by the Charlotte, N.C. Police Department revealed several security gaps in
which the teen could have breached to access the tarmac.
Reports of airport perimiter security breaches are alarming, yet
more common than most Americans realize. While most incidents result in little
damage, the what might have been is chilling – and often unreported.
On August 19, 2010 a pickup truck crashed through a fence and
drove onto the tarmac at Dallas Love Field.
Although the public was led to believe it was an isolated
incident, a Dallas News investigation revealed that the Love Field fence has
been breached or damaged 20 times in less than five years.
A New York City news station has been
following a $100 million project to provide the perimeters of all four Port
Authority airports with surveillance cameras and motion sensors is now nearly
four years behind schedule.
A tip from a NYC Port Authority Officer provided a local ABC news
station with photographs to demonstrate the severity of the perimeter fence at JFK Airport.
After an aerial view by helicopter, the investagative team
reported that yhe condition of perimeter fence is even worse than in the
photos.
The concerned anonymous source enclosed a memo explaining that
attempts to alert “higher ups” about the deterrioration of the fence
were ignored.
At least a quarter mile of the perimeter fence is down,
leaving a gaping hole in security along a main JFK runway.
The former Director of Security for Israel’s EI AI Airline Isaac Yeffet called the lack of basic
perimeter security at JFK Airport shameful.
Los Angelas International (LAX) airport is
accepting bids to either replace the entire fence or adding a series of
consistent security measures along the airport perimeter.
An airport official said that although the current eight-mile
perimeter fence complies with federal regulations, it has been built in stages
over the past decade and has no one consistent security standard.
Officials deemed Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
security perimeter in need of security improvements after a man in a stolen
truck was able to breach them and gain access to the airfield.
In 2007, a ten million dollar project was announced to reinforce
and upgrade the fences surrounding the airfield.
In 2010, former chief of security at O’Hare James Maurer cited
security threats in a lawsuit filed against the city of Chicago accusing city
leaders of only concerned about the $15 billion modernization and expansion plan under way
at O’Hare.
Maurer had voiced concerns repeatedly about “potentially
catastrophic terrorist opportunities at O’Hare Airport and was continually
ignored and then dismissed.
Former Security Chief James Maurer called Chicago’s O’Hare
Airport the least secure airport in the country.
One security threat listed in the lawsuit is the airport allows
10,000 private vehicles owned by airline workers to be parked inside the
security perimeter at O’Hare Airport.
The suit said it would not detail other security gaps for fear
that the information might fall into the wrong hands.
The aviation security chief warned of the danger in unarmed
security officers guard perimeter checkpoints that prevent unauthorized access
to the tarmac and back areas at O’Hare and Midway.