Bomb Parts Pass Checkpoints at 21 U.S. Airports
March 17, 2006 -- Government investigators conducting undercover tests at 21 U.S. airports were able to get bomb materials through screening machines at all of them, ABC News has learned.
The investigators sent through components of an improvised explosive device and common household chemicals, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress. Undercover agents carried a small amount of material that would need to be properly combined on the other side of the checkpoint to create a bomb. The material got past screeners and X-ray machines in every one of the 21 airports tested.
"I think security is still not where it needs to be," said Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant and terrorism expert. "At the end of the day, you can still get all the components through security that you need to assemble a bomb on the other side." The report was ordered by Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who said he wanted to see "how penetrable the passenger screening system is to explosive devices." He called the results "very disappointing."
Covert tests are a key part of testing the security system and are conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, which admitted it worried about explosive devices slipping through. It recently cut back on the list of banned items so screeners could concentrate on finding bomb-making material.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1735898
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