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Sunday, July 11, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.
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The Times collected 100 media reports of airport-security breaches since fall 2002, when TSA screeners took over. Screeners say that's a fraction of the incidents, and most are never disclosed.
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View breaches by state:
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All breaches
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| Alabama |
Breach description |
| Birmingham Int'l Airport |
Four people were discovered on the airport tarmac. They fled on foot when officers questioned them about badges that identified them as airport-security workers. Officials sealed the terminal at 5:30 p.m. to search for the three men and one woman. Several dozen incoming flights were delayed. Around 300 people were evacuated and rescreened. The four people were not found. Officials reopened the airport around 7:30 p.m. The incident turned out to be a TSA security test. Airport authorities said they had no advanced knowledge of the test. U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., called for the Department of Homeland Security to investigate and report on the incident, which had financial impacts on airlines and passengers. [3/11/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Arizona |
Breach description |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'l Airport |
TSA screeners detected what they thought was a knife in a man's carry-on bag after it went through an X-ray machine. They scanned the bag a second time but didn't see the item. The man and the bag were allowed to enter the concourse. TSA officials realized this was not proper procedure (the bag should have been manually searched) and called for an evacuation of the airport's largest terminal. During rescreening, screeners discovered two other knives, but they could not determine if either of them was the knife originally identified. [10/17/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Arkansas |
Breach description |
| Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, Bentonville |
A screener lost track of a bag identified as a possible threat. The screener examined the bag in the X-ray machine and decided to give it a second look. But by the time the employee tried to retrieve it, the passenger who sent it through security had already taken it. The terminal was searched, but the bad was never located. About 250 people were evacuated, including 27 who already had boarded their flight. The flight was delayed about 25 minutes. [12/19/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| California |
Breach description |
| Burbank Airport |
A man slipped through a checkpoint after being told to wait for a wand search. About 350 people were evacuated from the terminal for about one hour. Airport police were unable to locate the man, but after a sweep of the building they determined there was no safety threat. [12/12/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Los Angeles Int'l Airport |
A man left the screening checkpoint before being cleared to proceed. The terminal was evacuated. The passenger in question was found during the evacuation. He was rescreened and did not pose a threat. [1/10/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Los Angeles Int'l Airport |
A man walked unnoticed past two security checkpoints and boarded a Delta Air Lines jet without a ticket. Passengers discovered the man, a convicted felon on probation for burglary, hiding in an airplane restroom. The man was apprehended by police before takeoff. [1/15/2004]
Source: Los Angeles Times
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| Oakland Int'l Airport |
A passenger pulled a martial-arts weapon from a violin case and paced the aisles with it during a flight from Oakland to Chicago. He refused to sit down when told. A flight attendant alerted the pilot, who radioed authorities. A second pilot tackled the man, and crew members restrained him until the flight landed. Chicago police took the man into custody and confiscated the nunchucks, a self-defense weapon consisting of two pieces of wood connected by a short chain. Bail was set at $200,000, and the man was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery and resisting arrest. [10/23/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| San Diego Int'l Airport |
Screeners confiscated a pair of scissors from a carry-on bag but missed a Swiss Army knife that showed up on X-ray. About 1,000 people were evacuated and rescreened. Officials did not say whether the item was found. [4/02/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| San Francisco Int'l Airport |
A woman with two carry-on bags pushed aside a table and sprinted through an unstaffed security checkpoint at 10:46 a.m., but TSA officials didn't evacuate the terminal until 1 p.m. Security screeners had their backs to her when she ran through the closed checkpoint, and 10 to 15 minutes lapsed before they realized there was a breach. Security officials said they tried to find the woman but lost her in the crowd. They then reviewed videotapes. The woman had boarded United Airlines Flight 284, which departed at 11:30 p.m. Ten other flights also departed. The woman was a Taiwanese national with a student visa trying to get home to her host family in Baltimore. She was questioned when she arrived at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. She was released pending a FBI investigation. [2/06/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Int'l Airport |
An unknown passenger's carry-on bag triggered the explosive trace-detection machine, but the passenger was allowed to retrieve the bag and enter the concourse before being detained. The security breach was reported at 4:45 p.m., and officials evacuated and rescreened more than 300 passengers in the terminal and grounded five flights for about 90 minutes. The bag and passenger were never found. [11/21/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Int'l Airport |
A screener became distracted for almost 15 minutes and failed to respond when a passenger's carry-on bag set off the alarm on a trace explosives-detection machine. The screener allowed the passenger to take the bag into the concourse. A fellow screener noticed the color-coded visual alarm on the machine. The test was conducted again on the fabric filter that had been used to swipe the bag and registered positive. In a third exam using a different machine, the fabric filter did not set off an alarm. Officials removed the first machine for further examination. About 2,500 passengers were evacuated and 56 flights were delayed for up to two hours. [11/03/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Int'l Airport |
San Jose police became suspicious of a man wandering around a terminal passenger area. They discovered he did not have a boarding pass or identification and spoke only Spanish. Nearly 40 minutes after spotting the man, officials evacuated almost 2,000 passengers, including nearly 700 from airplanes. Flights were delayed for as long as two hours. Police said the man was meeting his father and walked into the terminal through a passenger exit lane without being noticed. The man was not arrested. [12/29/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Nine airports, various cities |
A businessman discovered a knife he had received as a gift had been in his bag since mid-August. He had traveled through nine different airports in that time and had twice been subjected to more extensive searches, without the knife being noticed by the TSA. The man had flown through Salt Lake City; Seattle; Burbank, Calif.; Portland; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Montreal; Paris; and Dusseldorf, Germany. [August-September 2003]
Source: NBC Nightly News
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| Colorado |
Breach description |
| Colorado Springs Airport |
A screener spotted something suspicious in a bag being X-rayed. The screener mistakenly selected a different bag to search, and the passenger with the suspicious bag left the area. Passengers were taken off four planes, including three on the runway, while officials searched the concourse, then spent two hours rescreening passengers. The delay affected 400 passengers and six flights. [12/25/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Denver Int'l Airport |
A passenger discovered a retractable box cutter in the magazine pouch of his second-row seat in first-class just before a United Airlines flight departure. The passenger alerted a flight attendant, and the pilot grounded the flight. State police searched the aircraft with bomb-sniffing dogs. The 76 passengers and six flight crewmembers were taken to another terminal and searched. Their baggage also was rescreened. No other questionable items were found. The flight was delayed for almost three hours before departing for San Francisco. United Airlines said a mechanic mistakenly left the box cutter on the plane in Denver before its flight to Boston. [1/28/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Denver Int'l Airport |
A walk-through metal detector at the north passenger-screening checkpoint malfunctioned about 12:30 p.m. TSA officials stopped the flow of passengers through all three checkpoints for about 25 minutes while they investigated. Passengers who already had passed through security were not rescreened. [11/12/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Connecticut |
Breach description |
| Bradley Int'l Airport, Windsor Locks |
A TSA screener was found asleep in front of an X-ray machine screen at 5:30 p.m. Authorities did not know how long the screener had been asleep. They evacuated the terminal and rescreened all passengers. State police used dog teams to search for explosives. Nothing was found. Two flights were delayed for less than an hour after the terminal reopened. TSA suspended the screener. [3/08/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Bradley Int'l Airport, Windsor Locks |
A custodian discovered a utility knife in a bathroom trash can. Travelers were evacuated to the ticketing lobby and main-terminal area. Another plane was ordered back to the taxiway so passengers could be rescreened. Police and dogs searched the concourse and found nothing suspicious. The checkpoint was closed for about one hour before passengers were rescreened. [1/20/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Bradley Int'l Airport, Windsor Locks |
Undercover inspectors twice smuggled a fake bomb in carry-on luggage. The device was passed by screeners at two checkpoints. Disguised as a radio, it was loosely modeled after the bomb that was used to blow up a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The federal inspectors conducting the tests identified themselves to the screeners only after the bag passed through the X-ray machine. [November 2003]
Source: The Hartford Courant
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| Bradley Int'l Airport, Windsor Locks |
During a surprise security check, an inspector successfully passed through screening with a knife strapped to her thigh. The inspector bluffed after a metal-detecting wand beeped its warning, telling the screener she had just had surgery and the incision was closed with metal staples. Despite being trained to visually inspect anything that alarms, the screener allowed the woman to continue into the passenger terminal. [November 2003]
Source: The Hartford Courant
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| Florida |
Breach description |
| Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l Airport |
Screeners failed to detain a man for a secondary wand screening before the man left the security checkpoint and went to catch a flight with his wife and two children. A screener had been checking another passenger and lost sight of him. The man was stopped at the gate. The terminal was cleared for more than an hour for a security sweep. About 450 people were rescreened. Officials talked to the man and determined he was an inexperienced traveler and not a threat. [1/29/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l Airport |
A Spirit Airlines jet was kept from the airport after an air marshal discovered an unmarked box in the plane's bathroom. The marshal found the box, containing cleaning solvents, shortly after the flight left New York. The box belonged to a boat cleaner. The jet eventually landed in Fort Lauderdale, but passengers were stuck on the plane for more than an hour. The unidentified man was questioned by agents and released. [5/30/2003]
Source: The (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Sun-Sentinel
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| Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l Airport |
A security screener pulled a bag from an X-ray machine because she thought she saw a paring knife. When the bag's owner did not come forward right away, the screener placed the bag in her work area and went to do something else. Minutes later, the screener noticed the bag was gone. When security personnel finally caught up with the bag and its owner, they found nothing suspicious inside. As many as 1,000 passengers were evacuated and delayed for hours. [5/27/2003]
Source: Sun-Sentinel
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| Jacksonville Int'l Airport |
A pair of scissors were found on the galley floor where flight attendants prepare meals. The plane, which had left the gate and was preparing for takeoff to Atlanta, was delayed for about two hours. Passengers were removed from the plane and rescreened. [3/05/2004]
Source: The Associated Press
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| Miami Int'l Airport |
Two passengers walked into a concourse through the exit lane without a screener seeing them. About 2,000 passengers were evacuated and rescreened at five concourses, and 41 flights were delayed for two hours. Several aircraft had to return to the gate so passengers could be rescreened. The two passengers were never found. Two screeners were placed on administrative leave. One was caught on tape sleeping on the job, and the other did not stop the two passengers. [11/14/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Georgia |
Breach description |
| Nine airports, various cities |
A businessman discovered a knife he had received as a gift had been in his bag since mid-August. He had traveled through nine different airports in that time and had twice been subjected to more extensive searches, without the knife being noticed by the TSA. The man had flown through Salt Lake City; Seattle; Burbank, Calif.; Portland; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Montreal; Paris; and Dusseldorf, Germany. [August-September 2003]
Source: NBC Nightly News
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| Hawaii |
Breach description |
| Kahului Airport |
A male passenger passed through the screening area around 1:15 p.m. despite the fact that his bag tested positive for explosives. Officials said the passenger picked up his bag and entered the sterile area, even though the trace examination was not complete. After officials unsuccessfully searched for the passenger in the concourse, the entire airport was evacuated and all passengers were rescreened. Security officials reopened the airport about 11/2 hours later, although they could not find the passenger during rescreening. Nine flights were delayed and 500 passenger were rescreened. [8/12/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Lihue Airport, Kauai |
A man with a handgun entered the airport through the Hawaiian Airlines baggage-claim area. He made his way past the security checkpoint and into the secure area where he fired two shots. The man apparently said something to TSA personnel at the checkpoint before firing once into the ceiling and once into the floor. He continued down the concourse toward boarding gates and passengers dropped to the floor. He then ordered people out of the concourse. The suspect sat with the gun pointed at his head before police persuaded him to surrender, and he was arrested. The airport was closed for an hour. About 200 people were evacuated, and two Hawaiian flights were delayed. [5/08/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Lihue Airport, Kauai |
A gunman threatened a TSA guard after bypassing security in a baggage area. [May 2003]
Source: The Associated Press
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| Illinois |
Breach description |
| Midway Int'l, Chicago |
Chicago police blamed an hourlong shutdown of Midway Airport on a miscommunication between two federal security screeners that allowed an unidentified woman to walk away from a secondary search area without being cleared. According to police, the incident began after the woman passed through metal detectors at Midway's only security checkpoint. She was then directed to a second screening area for a wand search but somehow managed to walk away before screeners conducted the search. Authorities did not locate the woman. 500 people who had already cleared security -- some of them already boarded on outbound flights -- had to exit the airport and be re-screened. [8/02/2003]
Source: Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times
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| Midway Int'l, Chicago |
A woman passed through a metal detector but did not complete wand screening before walking into the concourse. Security workers were unable to locate the woman. TSA officials evacuated three terminals, and an estimated 1,000 passengers were rescreened. All departing flights were halted for an hour. [8/02/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| O'Hare Int'l Airport, Chicago |
A man triggered the alarm on a metal detector and was asked to step aside for further scrutiny. The screener became distracted, and the man left the checkpoint. The man was found and questioned by federal officials. The terminal was closed for an hour but not evacuated. Some planes were searched before they departed. Security tapes showed the man was confused and apparently had no malicious intent. [5/01/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| O'Hare Int'l Airport, Chicago |
A man entered the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare International Airport through an exit lane, bypassing the security checkpoint. The man apparently boarded a flight to Detroit after the breach. The plane was searched upon landing but authorities could not identify the man. The Chicago terminal was evacuated for almost three hours. Officials said an investigation found it took security employees six minutes to call police and shut down the terminal. Two federal security screeners were later fired for not guarding their posts. [10/15/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report and Chicago Sun-Times
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| O'Hare or Midway, Chicago |
A California man was taken into custody after taking out a knife on a plane from Chicago to Syracuse, N.Y. About 15 minutes into the flight, a passenger noticed the man remove the knife from his duffel bag and start cutting loose threads from his clothes. She notified the flight crew, which contacted Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Syracuse police and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Police were waiting when the plane landed. It's unclear how screeners in Chicago failed to notice the knife, which was described as a folding pocketknife with a blade about 1-1/2 inches long. [2/19/2004]
Source: The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.)
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| Indiana |
Breach description |
| Indianapolis Int'l Airport |
A knife was found on a Southwest Airlines flight. Officials evacuated the concourse and closed it for about 90 minutes. Several flights that were boarded and ready for takeoff rescreened passengers. The owner of the knife could not be identified. [5/31/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Indianapolis Int'l Airport |
A TSA security screener saw a pair of scissors in a bag that was being X-rayed. Screeners wanted to inspect the bag by hand but mistakenly retrieved a different bag, allowing the bag with the scissors to be picked up by a passenger. Officials evacuated one concourse for about an hour. About 150 passengers and their bags were reinspected before they were allowed to re-enter the concourse. Three outbound flights and one inbound flight were delayed. TSA staff hand searched the carry-on luggage of all passengers on a direct flight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The scissors were never found. [11/19/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Kentucky |
Breach description |
| Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport, Hebron |
A passenger was asked to complete a secondary screening after passing through the walk-through metal detector. The passenger entered the concourse before TSA screeners finished their security measures. The international concourse was evacuated, and about 4,000 passengers in three terminals were rescreened. Seventeen flights were delayed. No arrests were made. The airport was closed for almost two hours. [3/16/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport, Hebron |
A security scanner malfunctioned at a checkpoint. All concourses in one of the terminals were evacuated for several hours. TSA staff bussed passengers back to the terminal from flights on the tarmac. Security dogs checked bags as the passengers were rescreened. [11/29/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Maine |
Breach description |
| Possibly Knox County Regional Airport, Owls Head |
The crew of a US Airways Express flight found a box cutter during a routine check. No passengers were on board when the blade was found. The flight had arrived from Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, Maine. The plane was allowed to depart for Syracuse, N.Y. The flight had originated from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Mass., and had stopped in Boston to pick up passengers before returning to Owls Head. [10/28/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Maryland |
Breach description |
| Baltimore-Washington Int'l Airport, Baltimore |
A passenger set off a metal detector and walked into the terminal before security staff could stop her. Authorities closed the checkpoint and two concourses for about an hour. Arriving flights were directed to other gates, and three flights were delayed. It is unclear how many passengers had to be rescreened. Authorities never found the woman. [4/03/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Baltimore-Washington Int'l Airport, Baltimore |
This is one of six incidents in which Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., snuck small plastic bags containing box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay onto Southwest Airlines planes. In four cases, including this one, he left the items behind in airplane bathrooms. Intending to challenge checkpoint security procedures, he brought the items through screening checkpoints at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport between February and mid-September. He also e-mailed TSA's contact center, claiming responsibility and providing his phone number and e-mail address. His e-mail wasn't acted on for about a month, until after items were found on this plane and one other. The items on this plane were found Oct. 16 on a flight that had landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Heatwole was arrested Oct. 20 and charged with one count of carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft. His charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, and he was sentenced last month to two years supervised probation and fined $500. Heatwole, now 21, also must serve 100 hours of community service and reimburse his parents for up to $500 in legal fees. [9/14/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report, Time magazine, The Associated Press, Transportation Security newsletter
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| Baltimore-Washington Int'l Airport, Baltimore |
A knife in a passenger's carry-on bag showed up on X-ray, but screeners failed to intercept the bag before the passenger grabbed it and entered the concourse. Passengers were rescreened, and 35 flights were delayed. Officials never found the knife. [4/05/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report, The Baltimore Sun
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| Massachusetts |
Breach description |
| Logan Int'l Airport, Boston |
Five Department of Homeland Security investigators posing as passengers brought knives, a gun and a bomb in their carry-on baggage through security checkpoints without being detected. [October 2003]
Source: Boston Globe, Airport Security Report
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| Logan Int'l Airport, Boston |
Derrick Jackson, a Boston Globe writer, said a Swiss Army knife in his toiletry bag passed through an X-ray machine at Logan on his way to Fort Lauderdale, and screeners didn't catch it. The knife passed screening again in Tampa on Jackson's way back to Boston. [April 2003]
Source: The Boston Globe
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| Logan Int'l Airport, Boston |
A young boy accompanying his grandmother on a Delta Air Lines flight to Florida brought a jackknife through security without it being detected. The grandmother discovered it when they arrived home and contacted local reporters. TSA officials could not confirm the incident. The boy said he had forgotten the jackknife was in his backpack after a camping trip. No charges were filed. [7/29/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Possibly Barnstable Municipal Airport, Hyannis |
The crew of a US Airways Express flight found a box cutter during a routine check. No passengers were on board when the blade was found. The flight had arrived from Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, Maine. The plane was allowed to depart for Syracuse, N.Y. The flight had originated from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Mass., and had stopped in Boston to pick up passengers before returning to Owls Head. [10/28/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Michigan |
Breach description |
| Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport |
TSA screeners thought they saw a suspicious object, believed to be a pair of scissors, in a bag. The passenger apparently grabbed the bag and entered the concourse before security staff could seize the bag. The terminal was evacuated for an hour and 40 minutes. Some Northwest Airlines flights were delayed during the shutdown, and long lines of passengers waiting to be rescreened were reported. It is unclear if the passenger was found. [3/24/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport |
A TSA agent reportedly believed someone who was not properly screened got through security. Spirit Airlines evacuated six gates in the terminal. Security agents re-screened 84 passengers. No problems were found. [11/25/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Gerald R. Ford Int'l Airport, Grand Rapids |
A TSA officer conducting an undercover test slipped through security onto the tarmac. He entered through a gate in need of repairs. [5/18/2004]
Source: WOOD TV8, Grand Rapids
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| Missouri |
Breach description |
| Lambert St. Louis International Airport |
A screener reported seeing a "cutting tool" in a garment bag being X-rayed and notified a supervisor. The passenger picked up the bag and left the screening area before security agents had a chance to examine the bag. Authorities described the object as a Leatherman-brand cutting tool. Security closed concourses, delaying 45 to 60 flights for up to three hours. Neither the bag nor the passenger was found. [10/4/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Nevada |
Breach description |
| McCarran Int'l Airport, Las Vegas |
TSA said it was investigating a pilot's report that his gun was missing. The pilot, who was trained to carry a gun in the cockpit, had been traveling as a passenger. During that flight, the gun was placed in a lockbox and stored in the plane's cargo section. When the pilot arrived in Las Vegas, the lockbox could not be found. [February 2004]
Source: The Washington Post
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| Reno/Tahoe Int'l Airport, Reno |
Several flights were delayed and 600 passengers were screened a second time after an unidentified woman bypassed a security checkpoint at Reno/Tahoe International Airport. The woman walked around TSA's security checkpoint and entered the concourse from an area reserved for departing passengers only, an airport spokesman said. All passengers in the concourse were rescreened, including those already aboard three planes. [5/17/2004]
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal
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| Reno/Tahoe Int'l Airport, Reno |
An unidentified woman bypassed a security checkpoint, entering the concourse through an area reserved for arriving passengers. The woman was not spotted by TSA officers until she had mixed with passengers already cleared by security. All people inside the concourse were rescreened. [5/17/2004]
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal
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| New Hampshire |
Breach description |
| Manchester Airport |
Federal aviation security officials interviewed a man who claimed a hunting knife he accidentally brought in his carry-on baggage made it through a security checkpoint at the Manchester Airport. He discovered the knife later while in Colorado. [5/27/2004]
Source: The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
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| New Jersey |
Breach description |
| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
Screeners saw a prohibited object in an X-ray image of a carry-on bag after the passenger left the checkpoint. Officials evacuated part of the terminal and rescreened hundreds of passengers. Four flights of passengers returned to the terminal for rescreening. No weapon was found. [2/19/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
A suspicious item, possibly a gun, showed up on a screener's X-ray monitor. But the screener didn't look at the image before leaving for lunch. By the time the next screener sat down at the machine, the bag and passenger were gone. Part of the terminal was evacuated, and four planes were returned to the gate as police searched for a weapon. No weapon was found. [2/19/2004]
Source: The Associated Press, News 12 New Jersey, TSAScreener.com
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| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
A passenger was arrested on an airplane and charged with carrying a concealed knife on board. A flight attendant noticed the man was using the knife with a 3 1/2-inch blade to cut fruit. He initially refused to surrender the knife, but eventually the flight attendant confiscated it and passed a note describing the incident to an air marshal on board. The marshal took the man into custody, handcuffed and searched him. [6/11/2003]
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
During a screeners' test, several walk-through metal detectors missed a steak knife nearly 8 inches long. [October 2003]
Source: The (N.J.) Star-Ledger
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| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
A passenger slipped through security with a carry-on bag containing an object that, on an X-ray monitor, resembled a gun. Passengers were rescreened, and part of the terminal was closed. Investigators concluded the item had looked like a gun because of a blurry X-ray monitor. [February 2003]
Source: The (N.J.) Star-Ledger
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| Newark Liberty Int'l Airport |
A United Airlines passenger discovered he had inadvertently passed through security with a box cutter. Following months of complaints by screeners about a blurry X-ray monitor at one checkpoint, the unit was replaced. [January 2004]
Source: The (N.J.) Star-Ledger
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| New Mexico |
Breach description |
| Albuquerque Int'l Sunport , Albuquerque |
A woman with a Swiss Army knife inside her carry-on bag made it through screening and entered the concourse. Screeners found the woman at a boarding gate. All passengers had to be rescreened. [4/01/2004]
Source: Airport security report, Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal
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| New York |
Breach description |
| John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport, New York |
Air France staff discovered an unaccompanied bag aboard a flight to Paris. The pilot was ordered to divert to St. John's International Airport, Newfoundland, Canada, when Air France ground staff in New York compared luggage and passenger lists and found a passenger was not on the plane. The 268 passengers and crew were evacuated. The flight resumed three hours later after the search found nothing suspicious. Air France said there was a misunderstanding with a passenger who canceled his flight after the company told him he would be charged for extra baggage. His bags were pulled, but one bag made it on board. [1/01/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport, New York |
An Air France pilot's checked baggage set off an alarm as it passed through an explosives-detection system. The pilot told screeners his bag was going to cause an explosion aboard the aircraft. The flight was to leave JFK for Paris. Screeners cleared the bag and allowed the pilot to continue toward his aircraft. Screeners then informed officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey of the pilot's remarks. Officers caught the pilot who had already boarded and escorted him off for questioning. The Queens County District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, and the pilot was released. The flight was canceled, delaying the trips of 254 passengers. [10/24/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport, New York |
A family traveling to Phoenix notified an American Airlines flight attendant that a knife in one of their carry-on bags made it through security at JFK in New York. The flight attendant took the steak knife with a 4-inch blade and gave it to the captain. The flight continued normally, and the family, after questioning in St. Louis, continued its journey. [11/12/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport, New York |
A family found a homemade box cutter in their carry-on luggage after returning from vacation. They had purchased the bag, which had previously been returned to the store by another customer, before flying to West Palm Beach, Fla. After finding the box cutter, the family contacted TSA at both Kennedy and the Palm Beach airport. TSA at Kennedy never returned the call. Palm Beach International Airport 's TSA called five days later. [4/03/2004]
Source: The Journal News (Westchester County, N.Y.)
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| La Guardia Airport, New York |
A traveler set off a walk-through metal detector. The woman should have been screened again with a hand wand, but instead left the checkpoint and walked into the concourse. Screeners were unable to locate her. Officials evacuated the terminal, and passengers were rescreened. Around 10 flights were delayed for two hours. [12/24/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| La Guardia Airport, New York |
TSA screeners detected a possible weapon in a carry-on bag during an X-ray scan. Screeners grabbed a bag and searched it before recognizing they had the wrong bag. By then, the passenger had recovered the suspicious bag and entered the concourse. Officials evacuated the terminal, searched the concourse and rescreened 1,500 Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines passengers. No weapons were found. [5/11/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| LaGuardia Airport, New York |
After a shift change, a screener reported seeing the image of a knife remaining on an X-ray monitor used by earlier screeners. The Delta Air Lines terminal was evacuated and some flights were delayed. All passengers were rescreened. No knife was found. [11/06/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| LaGuardia Airport, New York |
A woman reportedly passed through security with a stun gun and knife. The woman, traveling to Denver, said she discovered the items during the flight and notified a flight attendant. The pilot alerted officials in Denver, where police met the plane and took the woman into custody for questioning. She was released without charge. [December 2003 or January 2004]
Source: Airline Industry Information (trade publication), New York Daily News
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| LaGuardia Airport, New York |
A woman passed through screening with a stun gun and knife in her handbag. She realized this while on the flight to Denver. She notified a flight attendant, and the pilot alerted Denver International Airport. Police met the plane at the gate. The woman was questioned and released. [1/25/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| North Carolina |
Breach description |
| Raleigh-Durham Int'l Airport |
A man set off a walk-through metal detector then left the checkpoint without additional screening. The terminal was closed for about an hour. Officials found the man, who said he did not realize he was being called back to the checkpoint. The man was rescreened and allowed onto his flight. [11/03/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Raleigh-Durham Int'l Airport |
This is one of six incidents in which Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., snuck small plastic bags containing box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay onto Southwest Airlines planes. In four cases, including this one, he left the items behind in airplane bathrooms. Intending to challenge checkpoint security procedures, he brought the items through screening checkpoints at Raleigh-Durham and at Baltimore/Washington International Airport between February and mid-September. He also e-mailed TSA's contact center, claiming responsibility and providing his phone number and e-mail address. His e-mail wasn't acted on for about a month, until after items were found on this plane and one other. The items on this plane were found Oct. 16 on a flight to New Orleans. Technicians found the ""stash"" behind a bathroom access panel, after a pilot reported a bathroom problem on the flight. Heatwole was arrested Oct. 20 and charged with one count of carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft. His charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, and he was sentenced last month to two years supervised probation and fined $500. Heatwole, now 21, also must serve 100 hours of community service and reimburse his parents for up to $500 in legal fees. [9/12/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report, Time magazine, The Associated Press, Transportation Security newsletter
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| Raleigh-Durham Int'l Airport |
This is the first of six incidents in which Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., snuck small plastic bags containing box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay onto Southwest Airlines planes. In four cases, he left the items behind in airplane bathrooms. Intending to challenge checkpoint security procedures, he brought the items through screening checkpoints at Raleigh-Durham and at Baltimore/Washington International Airport between February and mid-September. He also e-mailed the TSA, claiming responsibility and providing his phone number and e-mail address. That e-mail wasn’t acted on for about a month, until after items were found on two planes. Heatwole was arrested in October and charged with one felony count of carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft. His charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, and he was sentenced last month to two years supervised probation and fined $500. Heatwole, now 21, also must serve 100 hours of community service and reimburse his parents for up to $500 in legal fees. [2/07/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report, Time magazine, The Associated Press, Transportation Security newsletter
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| Ohio |
Breach description |
| Cleveland Hopkins Int'l Airport |
Two terminals at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport were closed for about an hour after passengers told security that another passenger hadn't gone through screening. The male passenger, who had cut in front of other passengers waiting to be screened, was never identified and probably boarded his flight after everyone was screened a second time, said Tom Cianciolo of TSA operations at the airport. Seventeen departing flights were delayed. The man went through screening and got his bag X-rayed, but then went the wrong way and walked through two unused metal detectors, Cianciolo said. [6/20/2004]
Source: The Associated Press
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| Oregon |
Breach description |
| Rogue Valley Int'l-Medford Airport, Medford |
The federal government has put the airport in Medford, Ore., on probation after surveillance videos caught two security employees napping on the job. Both employees were fired. The airport notified TSA officials immediately about the problem. [June 2004]
Source: The Associated Press
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| Portland Int'l Airport, Portland |
A man TSA workers had asked to step aside for additional screening left the checkpoint. More than 500 passengers were evacuated, and two concourses were closed for an hour. Passengers who already had boarded three planes were ordered off. [10/31/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Nine airports, various cities |
A businessman discovered a knife he had received as a gift had been in his bag since mid-August. He had traveled through nine different airports in that time and had twice been subjected to more extensive searches, without the knife being noticed by the TSA. The man had flown through Salt Lake City; Seattle; Burbank, Calif.; Portland; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Montreal; Paris; and Dusseldorf, Germany. [August-September 2003]
Source: NBC Nightly News
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| Pennsylvania |
Breach description |
| Harrisburg Int'l Airport, Middletown |
A United Airlines employee bypassed a security checkpoint with a carry-on bag. The concourse was cleared, and all passengers in the secure area had to be rescreened. One flight was delayed for 40 minutes. [1/12/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Philadelphia Int'l Airport |
A screener was found with a loaded Glock 9-mm pistol at a walk-through metal detector before starting his work shift. TSA requires screeners at terminal checkpoints to undergo the same security procedures as passengers. The screener told authorities he forgot he had the gun with him. He said he had been at a shooting range the night before and packed the pistol in the same bag he brought to work. Three screeners were suspended over the incident -- the two others because they did not notify their supervisors about it. Authorities said they simply told the screener to get the gun out of the airport and return to work. [1/24/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Philadelphia Int'l Airport |
A box cutter was found inside a seat pouch on a US Airways flight that had arrived from Houston. A passenger found the box cutter and pointed it out to crew members. About 80 passengers disembarked and passed through the airport's security checkpoint before boarding another flight. [10/28/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Philadelphia Int'l Airport |
A man triggered an alarm on a walk-through metal detector around 6:30 p.m. at a terminal checkpoint. The man had just arrived from overseas and was connecting to a domestic flight. He was apparently instructed to wait in a roped-off area for secondary screening but he left the terminal. No screeners saw the man leave. Police were notified and arrived within two minutes. By 6:45 p.m., the man could not be found and the TSA decided to evacuate the old and new international terminals. Ten flights were delayed up to an hour and more than 1,800 passengers had to be rescreened. [8/10/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Pittsburgh Int'l Airport |
Three TSA screeners and a checkpoint manager failed to stop a woman from going through a security checkpoint. The woman, a FAA employee who was testing airport security, walked the wrong way through a checkpoint exit and into the building. Robert Blose, federal security director at the airport, said the manager and screeners would be disciplined and the checkpoint reconfigured to stop future breaches. [2/03/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Pittsburgh Int'l Airport |
A man without a boarding pass entered the terminal to say goodbye to his brother by flashing an old constable's badge he was given as a gift. He was arrested and faced a federal charge of lying to a U.S. Customs inspector. [12/08/2002]
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Airport Security Report
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| Pittsburgh Int'l Airport |
A flight attendant discovered a young man covered with a blanket in the seventh row of a parked airplane. He did not have proper passenger or airport credentials. The flight attendant immediately notified police, and the man was arrested. He told police he avoided security by ducking behind a closed ticket counter when the area was deserted. He then crawled to the airfield through the baggage system. Video surveillance showed him in a conveyor area. He got to the tarmac and jumped aboard a United Airlines van. Using keys in the ashtray, he drove to a gate and boarded a plane. After he was discovered, the plane was searched for suspicious items before being cleared. The man told police he wanted to go to St. Louis. He was charged with criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. [5/24/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Rhode Island |
Breach description |
| T.F. Green Airport, Providence |
Screeners discovered a razor knife when X-raying a bag, and the knife was confiscated. However, another suspicious item slipped through the checkpoint. Officials reviewed a video and were able to identify the bag and the passenger but could not locate them. They evacuated the terminal and rescreened everyone. Three flights had to return to the terminal, and about 300 passengers were evacuated for rescreening. Four flights were delayed. [1/27/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| South Carolina |
Breach description |
| Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Columbia |
A woman boarded a Delta Air Lines flight with a 1-inch Swiss Army knife in her purse. She discovered the knife and turned it over to a flight attendant before takeoff. The woman was not arrested, and the flight was allowed to proceed without passengers being rescreened. [12/29/2003]
Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)
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| Myrtle Beach Int'l Airport, Myrtle Beach |
A passenger was escorted into the secure area without being screened. TSA officials evacuated the concourse. Rescreening started about 15 minutes later. A US Airways flight was delayed. The passenger was found, rescreened and allowed to proceed. TSA said someone with a security badge -- not one of its employees -- escorted the passenger. [4/17/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Texas |
Breach description |
| Austin-Bergstrom Int'l Airport, Austin |
A screener saw what he thought was a handgun while X-raying of a carry-on bag. The screener changed his mind and allowed the passenger and bag through the checkpoint. Another screener became concerned and decided the carry-on bag should be examined. But the passenger had already walked away. Officials evacuated the concourse. The passenger and bag were identified during rescreening. The bag was searched and a replica handgun was discovered. [May 2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Dallas/Fort Worth Int'l Airport |
Security staff working in the baggage-claim area saw a man walk through a revolving exit door and enter a secure concourse area. TSA evacuated three terminals and searched the area. Some aircraft still on the ground were evacuated and searched. About a dozen aircraft left the airport before they were notified of the search. Officials notified other airports to reverse screen flights arriving from Dallas. The man was not found. [4/05/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Dallas/Fort Worth Int'l Airport |
A Pennsylvania woman discovered she had accidentally left a pocketknife in her purse after clearing a security checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, security and airline officials said. [June 2004]
Source: Dallas Morning News
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| Dallas/Fort Worth Int'l Airport |
A man carrying a laptop computer cleared security and headed into the terminal. Three minutes later, a machine that detects trace explosives showed a positive reading for Semtex, a volatile plastic explosive. The man's laptop, which initially cleared the machine, was the last item tested. Two screeners checked the machine and verified the second result. A search for the passenger proved fruitless. Forty-five minutes later, all planes and three of four terminals were evacuated. The passenger and his laptop were never found. [1/09/2003]
Source: The Dallas Morning News
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| El Paso Int'l Airport |
A TSA screener supposedly saw a suspicious item -- later determined to be contraband -- during a checkpoint screening. But the TSA screener lost track of the item, and it was never found. The east concourse was evacuated for two hours. [12/01/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston |
Officials said a man went through one of the security checkpoints about 4 p.m. without stopping. Three terminals were closed for about 30 minutes. Security officials located the man and determined he was not a threat. [1/30/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Utah |
Breach description |
| Nine airports, various cities |
A businessman discovered a knife he had received as a gift had been in his bag since mid-August. He had traveled through nine different airports in that time and had twice been subjected to more extensive searches, without the knife being noticed by the TSA. The man had flown through Salt Lake City; Seattle; Burbank, Calif.; Portland; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Montreal; Paris; and Dusseldorf, Germany. [August-September 2003]
Source: NBC Nightly News
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| Virginia |
Breach description |
| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington County |
A female passenger who was supposed to be waiting for secondary screening, walked away from a checkpoint. Officials evacuated the terminal and rescreened all 200 passengers. K-9 teams and law -enforcement officials searched the secure side of the concourse. The woman was not found. [2/10/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington County |
A screener noticed a suspicious item while X-raying carry-on baggage. Security staff failed to intervene before the passenger retrieved the bag and left the checkpoint. Pier B was evacuated and closed for an hour. Passengers were rescreened, and ten departing flights were delayed. [4/16/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington County |
A woman wandered away from the screening area as she was waiting for additional screening. The terminal was evacuated and passengers rescreened. The woman was not found but was believed to have gone through screening again. [2/10/2004]
Source: The Associated Press
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| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington County |
A woman set off an alarm during screening but kept walking toward the concourse gate after being told to wait for a security check. About 1,000 US Airways passengers were evacuated from the terminal and were re-screened. Nothing suspicious was found. [11/22/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norfolk Int'l Airport |
A woman who set off a walk-through metal detector and was waiting to be screened with a hand wand left the checkpoint and headed toward the gates before being rescreened. TSA officials closed the concourse, rescreened passengers and brought in bomb-sniffing dogs to check the airport. The incident delayed several flights and caused some passengers to miss their flights. The woman was not found. [11/17/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norfolk Int'l Airport |
A screener X-raying luggage spotted an image that appeared to be a handgun, but security staff grabbed the wrong bag. The mistake was noticed in moments, but the passenger with the suspicious bag had left for the boarding gates. The concourse was closed, and all passengers, including some who had boarded their flights, were rescreened. No weapon was found. Passengers on two arriving flights were briefly kept on their planes, and several departing flights were delayed. [12/20/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Norfolk Int'l Airport |
A woman who set off a walk-through metal detector and was waiting to be screened with a hand wand left the checkpoint and headed toward the boarding gates. Officials closed the concourse, rescreened passengers and brought in bomb-sniffing dogs to check the airport. The incident delayed several fights and caused some passengers to miss their flights. The woman was not found. [11/17/2002]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Washington Dulles Int'l Airport, Sterling |
Two Middle Eastern men with straight razors and a utility knife in their bags got past the security checkpoint. When they were stopped, they were found to be carrying $10,000 in cash. TSA agents confiscated the items at the boarding-gate screening area. American Airlines allowed both men to board flight 144, but the flight crew refused to take off until the men were removed from the aircraft. The flight was delayed for an hour before the men were removed. They were rescreened and placed on another flight to Los Angeles. The men had Virginia state identifications but were not U.S. citizens. They claimed to be Iranian nationals but were not carrying passports. [2/08/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Washington Dulles Int'l Airport, Sterling |
In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Steve Brewer of Lorton, VA., noted that he had been stopped earlier in the month at a regional airport in Colorado because his olive-drab parachute bag tested positive for explosives. Lorton had carried the bag with him on numerous overseas missions as a Marine Corps combat-mission engineer. But just four days before the Colorado trip, ""the same bag flew unimpeded on a United Airlines flight out of Dulles International Airport, the origin of American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001,"" Brewer wrote. [April 2004]
Source: The Washington Post, letter to the editor
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| Washington |
Breach description |
| Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, SeaTac |
A bag containing construction tools, including a hammer, was flagged for secondary screening. The X-ray screener called for assistance to take the bag and the female passenger away for the search. But the wrong bag was selected to search, and the woman passed through the security checkpoint with her bag. Three terminals were evacuated, causing long lines of passengers and flight delays. The woman and her tools were discovered the second time through security. [1/12/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, SeaTac |
A passenger on a US Airways flight to Philadelphia used a 5-inch serrated knife to cut an apple. Two women were so shocked to see the knife that they took pictures. TSA officials, who said they learned about the incident from the media after the women contacted a Philadelphia TV station, would not say whether the woman with the knife had been identified. The women who photographed the knife did alert the airline, which promised to notify the TSA. [October 2003]
Source: KOMO 4 News
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| Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, SeaTac |
A family walked through an unattended concourse metal detector and headed toward the gates. Within minutes, someone discovered the unstaffed lane. Airport spokesman Bob Parker said he discussed with TSA staff members whether to declare a breach, which would have meant the concourse would be shut down and passengers rescreened. Since the family was found quickly and seemed harmless, TSA supervisors chose not to declare a breach. Screeners nearby said the lane was unstaffed for five to 10 minutes, and more passengers may have gotten through. [7/14/2003]
Source: The Seattle Times
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| Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, SeaTac |
Travelers were delayed for two hours at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport yesterday after an impatient passenger walked away from the screening area before he'd been fully searched, causing a security breach that forced the evacuation of a concourse. A 48-year-old Missouri man traveling to Kansas City went through the initial screening gate and was asked to step aside for a more thorough search. "It appears he just got impatient and walked off," said airport spokesman Bob Parker, adding that a security screener followed the man but lost sight of him. The evacuation delayed at least nine flights and inconvenienced thousands of travelers. [10/10/2002]
Source: The Seattle Times
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| Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, SeaTac |
A baggage screener was discovered asleep at 6 a.m. at the exit from a station on the underground train system linking the terminals. The screener was sleeping for eight to 30 minutes. Four of the airport's five concourses were evacuated and searched with explosive-sniffing dogs. Nothing suspicious was found. The concourses reopened after about two hours. The screener was fired. [1/05/2003]
Source: Airport Security Report
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| Nine airports, various cities |
A businessman discovered a knife he had received as a gift had been in his bag since mid-August. He had traveled through nine different airports in that time and had twice been subjected to more extensive searches, without the knife being noticed by the TSA. The man had flown through Salt Lake City; Seattle; Burbank, Calif.; Portland; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Montreal; Paris; and Dusseldorf, Germany. [August-September 2003]
Source: NBC Nightly News
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| West Virginia |
Breach description |
| Yeager Airport, Charleston |
A woman unknowingly took a loaded 9-mm handgun through screening. A screener suspected something in the bag and ordered a hand search. Another screener did not find the gun during the search, and the woman was allowed to proceed. She found the gun in her bag while waiting at the boarding gate. She notified a gate agent, who called airport police. About 60 passengers were rescreened. The woman said she had placed the weapon in her bag in a closet at home after a burglary. [4/13/2004]
Source: Airport Security Report
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