Serious Security Questions at Sky Harbor Airport
We’ve discovered a 4.5 hour time frame each night when virtually anything can be brought into the secure side of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. There’s no metal detector, no X-ray machine, and it’s apparently not a problem.
Afraid to show her face, one long time Sky Harbor employee talks about the security most people don’t see.
Lisa Fletcher: “You’re telling me Sky Harbor’s not safe?”
Employee: “I’m telling you Sky Harbor’s not safe and hasn’t been for a long time.”
It’s what we discovered in the middle of the night – TSA agents going away, and security guards taking over. It’s 4.5 hours – every night – when an employee badge becomes an all-access pass.
Night after night, our hidden cameras captured what security experts tell us is a disaster waiting to happen.
The X-ray machines were off, the metal detectors were closed, and bags with unknown contents were carried to the secure side of the airport where the planes are.
We watched as a security guard let people with purses, coolers and suitcases
walk right through – bags unchecked.Even more surprising, some of the people you trust to keep you safe planned it this way.
Larry Wansley is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top airline security experts. “It’s a frightening situation, I’ve just simply never seen anything like it,” he said. “I really honestly have not.”
He’s the former head of security for American Airlines, and currently consults the U.S. Government and airports around the world. We brought him in to take a look at what we found.
“It is not security,” he said. “It truly is not security. Anything can be going through there. I don’t get it.”
Larry watched for hours and saw the same thing we did – guys with huge backpacks showing their ID and walking through without ever opening their bags.
A flight attendant, with three suitcases in tow, flashed her badge and breezed by. A huge load of newspapers on a cart was also pulled right passed the guard and a floor cleaner was pushed by without any inspection. Even a guy with his bike just showed his ID and was able to ride through with his crate on the back, never checked.
In the time we watched, dozens made it past this checkpoint, bags unchecked.
While you are mulling that over, take a look at this: Jersey City Woman Finds Missile Launcher On LawnOfficials: Launcher, Good For One Use Only, Had Already Been Fired
July 23, 2007 - 12:06 AM on July 23rd, 2007
Does any of this seriously surprise anyone? Why would a government that sees no reason to close the borders to thousands of illegal crossers nightly show the slightest inkling of actually securing the international aiirport with the easiest access to that border?