February 2008
Questionable carry-ons
After an alleged terrorist plot that aimed to use liquid and gel explosives on London-to-U.S. flights was disrupted in 2006,
the TSA issued conflicting bans on carrying those items aboard.
In short order, rules changed from a ban on liquids and gels to allowing small containers in clear plastic quart-sized bags. Then came approval for larger items bought in shops past checkpoints.
Ervin says airport vendors applied pressure to have the liquids ban modified. "Are the amounts of liquids dangerous? Either it's true or it's not," he says. "Why is it OK to buy them past the checkpoint now?"
Bogdan Dzakovic, a TSA officer and former Federal Aviation Administration undercover leader, says the emergence of liquid explosives was inevitable because of the TSA's focus on detecting powdered nitrate-based bombs. He says the TSA had been public about its trace-detection and checked-baggage machines, so terror groups "turned to gel-based explosives."
Exploiting loopholes in the liquid/gel rules, undercover investigators smuggled components for several explosive devices and an incendiary device through TSA checkpoints and onto airline flights without being challenged, according to the November 2007 federal audit report. One agent even deliberately provoked a second screening but was able to smuggle the items through anyway.
In another symptom of confusion, an April 2007 GAO report says the TSA allowed pointed scissors with blades 4 inches long and tools as long as 7 inches back on planes in December 2005 without having any justification for doing so. Cigarette lighters were allowed back onboard in August 2007, with the TSA saying that they no longer pose a significant threat.
While the TSA said that would free up time for other screening, some aviation experts consulted by the GAO for the report said, "Permitting scissors increases the risk of violence against passengers and flight crew."
In short order, rules changed from a ban on liquids and gels to allowing small containers in clear plastic quart-sized bags. Then came approval for larger items bought in shops past checkpoints.
Ervin says airport vendors applied pressure to have the liquids ban modified. "Are the amounts of liquids dangerous? Either it's true or it's not," he says. "Why is it OK to buy them past the checkpoint now?"
Bogdan Dzakovic, a TSA officer and former Federal Aviation Administration undercover leader, says the emergence of liquid explosives was inevitable because of the TSA's focus on detecting powdered nitrate-based bombs. He says the TSA had been public about its trace-detection and checked-baggage machines, so terror groups "turned to gel-based explosives."
Exploiting loopholes in the liquid/gel rules, undercover investigators smuggled components for several explosive devices and an incendiary device through TSA checkpoints and onto airline flights without being challenged, according to the November 2007 federal audit report. One agent even deliberately provoked a second screening but was able to smuggle the items through anyway.
In another symptom of confusion, an April 2007 GAO report says the TSA allowed pointed scissors with blades 4 inches long and tools as long as 7 inches back on planes in December 2005 without having any justification for doing so. Cigarette lighters were allowed back onboard in August 2007, with the TSA saying that they no longer pose a significant threat.
While the TSA said that would free up time for other screening, some aviation experts consulted by the GAO for the report said, "Permitting scissors increases the risk of violence against passengers and flight crew."
