Security lapses, screener issues and false alarms:

JetBlue flight attendant who ditched 60 pounds of cocaine at airport sentenced to time served.  A former JetBlue flight attendant who ran from security after ditching 60 pounds of cocaine at Los Angeles International Airport has been sentenced to time served.

A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain:  February 2018.  Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamud, a 31-year-old terror suspect with 17 aliases was found to be working at London's Heathrow Airport.  An investigation found that Mohamud lied about his criminal past — he has multiple convictions for robbery, sexual assault and money laundering — and that no full background check was conducted before he was granted access to the airport's tarmac.

Serial stowaway arrested again at Chicago's O'Hare airport.  Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says Marilyn Hartman was flown back to Chicago on Thursday night [1/18/2018] and taken into custody once she arrived.

It's time to believe tipsters when they warn us about maniacs.  The conversation eight years ago was with a man I didn't know and haven't seen since.  Yet at times like these, I remember what he said as if it were yesterday.  The man is Avi Dichter, a member of the Israeli Knesset and former head of Shin Bet, Israel's version of the FBI.  We were seated beside each other at a dinner in Tel Aviv, and the talk turned to security, especially at airports.  "The problem with you Americans," I recall Dichter saying, "is that you worry about what people are carrying in their luggage.  In Israel, we worry about who the people are."  Bingo.  "Who the people are" is the essence of Israeli security — and what is missing from America's.

TSA screenings fail to spot weapons most of the time, agency says.  An undercover operation has revealed that Transportation Security Administration screenings at airports fail for the most part.  Homeland Security investigators found that, more than 70 percent of the time, undercover officers were able to get through TSA checkpoints with mock knives, guns and explosives, the House Homeland Security Committee was told Wednesday.  Just two years ago, testing found a 95 percent failure rate, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.  "We found that briefing disturbing," said Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.  The DHS Office of Inspector General made eight classified recommendations based on the undercover operation.  In a statement, the TSA said it took the "OIG findings very seriously and are implementing measures that will improve screening effectiveness at checkpoints."

The TSA Flunks Yet Another Airport Security Test; How Many More Chances Will It Get?  Anyone standing in an endless security line at the airport can at least take comfort in the fact that it's keeping air travel safe.  Right?  Wrong.  It turns out that the government-run TSA repeatedly fails to do its job properly.

Why take Somali "community leaders" on an exclusive airport-security tour?  In his March 29, 2016 Star Tribune story, Stephen Montemayor reported in passing that local imams and Muslim "community leaders" had received a "behind-the-scenes security tour" in February last year at MSP. Montemayor mentioned the tour when he noted that Hassan Mohamud — also known as "Sheikh Hassan," an imam working as a legal assistant for one of the defendants — had been "uninvited" from the tour.  What was that tour for Muslims only all about?  I asked MSP spokesman Patrick Hogan, who Hogan referred me to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  A TSA spokesman denied knowledge (wrongly, as it turned out).

Was it a Muslim who breached security at Miami International Airport?  Pretending to talk on a cellphone, a man at Miami International Airport was caught on video jumping onto a luggage carousel on Saturday.  If you pause the video below at 0:21, you can get a good look at his bearded face.  The footage shows him casually strolling past an empty security checkpoint at the American Airlines ticket counter and then diving into a luggage conveyor belt.

Minneapolis airport fails 95 percent of security tests, sources say.  When put to the test, Minneapolis-St.  Paul International Airport failed 95 percent of security tests conducted at the airport last week, according to Fox 9 sources.  Last Thursday [6/29/2017], what's referred to as the "Red Team" in town from Washington D.C., posed as passengers and attempted to sneak items through security that should easily be caught.  In most cases, they succeeded in getting the banned items though.  17 out of 18 tries by the undercover federal agents saw explosive materials, fake weapons or drugs pass through TSA screening undetected.

Bay Area airport screener pleads guilty to taking bribes.  A supervisor screener who used to work at San Francisco International Airport pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe and turning a blind eye as 50 pounds of cocaine went through his X-ray machine.

UA 93 Hijacker Entered US 7 Times — on 'Tourist' Visa.  On the face of it, [Ziad] Jarrah was a clean-cut young man from a wealthy Muslim family in Lebanon, who had moved to Germany to be a student — and only wanted to visit this free and beautiful country as a tourist.  In reality, he was an al-Qaida operative dispatched by Osama bin Laden to carry out the worst terrorist attack in the history of our nation.  In the 15 months before 9/11, Jarrah came and went from the United States at will — entering this country on deceitful terms no less than seven times.  After his first entry, according to a staff report of the 9/11 Commission, he instantly violated the terms of his visa.  Yet, again and again, he was welcomed at U.S. airports and granted entry to the United States.

New Generation Of Bombs Undetectable By Airport Scanners:  What's The Solution?  [Scroll down]  Technology chasing technology only goes so far.  For all the time spent harassing a new mom about baby formula, we could be using those hours to interview a 20-year-old "quiet" male with no real friends and an extensive Facebook trail to a Pakistani ISP.

Flight took off with erratic passenger despite red flags.  A man acted strangely long before he caused a disturbance on a plane that prompted fighter jets to accompany it to Hawaii, but a lack of communication and an airline's hesitancy to be caught on video booting a passenger could have played a role in allowing him to fly, experts say.  Anil Uskanli, 25, of Turkey, had purchased a ticket at an airline counter in the middle of the night with no luggage and had been arrested after opening a door to a restricted airfield at Los Angeles International Airport.

11 people get through TSA checkpoint without screening at JFK: Report.  Eleven people got through security without being screened Monday morning [2/20/2017] at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to an NBC News report.  Transportation Security Administration officials in Terminal 5 left a security lane open and unmanned, allowing 11 people to walk through without being checked, officials told NBC.  A review of the surveillance footage showed that three people set off metal detectors but proceeded through security without question, NBC reported.

Muslim man found with pipe bomb in his luggage is allowed to fly only days later.  43-year-old Nadeem Muhammed was boarding a Ryanair flight with a pipe bomb in his luggage, but was allowed to fly a few days later.  According to a report on Jihad Watch, he was arrested by police on suspicion of terrorism after "batteries wrapped in brown tape" was found in his bag.  However, he was released on bail and allowed to travel after allegedly telling officers the device had been planted by someone else.

Transient sneaks onto jet, caught smoking a cigarette before being arrested.  An Associated Press investigation showed that, nationally, people get past airport perimeter security more often than authorities publicly acknowledge.

ISIS teen who killed priest passed background check for airport job.  A French Islamic State fanatic who ended up murdering a Catholic priest "easily" passed a police investigation to become an airport baggage handler, it was revealed today [7/29/2016].  Abdelmalik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, both 19, were on terrorist watchlists when they slit Father Jacques Hamel's throat in Normandy on Tuesday.  Now it has emerged that Petitjean worked full-time at Chambery airport in the Savoie region, which is used by more than 250,000 passengers a year including many Britons, until just three months ago.  He started as a porter there in December after completing his baccalaureate at the Marlioz high school in nearby Aix-les-Bains, where he lived.

How Safe Is Your Airport?  Airport security is severely lacking in many locations around the world, and yesterday's [6/28/2016] attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport showed how vulnerable Europe's third airport was.  Europe's public airports areas are relatively open compared with some facilities in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia where travelers and their documents are checked before they even enter the airport building. [...] "If you provide a system of security circles, your ability to locate a passenger that is supposed to be suspicious is six kilometers before he entered the terminal building," said Pini Schiff, the head of security chief at Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel's international airport located close to Tel Aviv.

He's accused of war crimes in Somalia.  Now he works security at a U.S. airport.  An accused war criminal living in the United States is now working as a security guard at Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC.  A CNN investigation found that Yusuf Abdi Ali, who is accused of committing atrocities while he was a military commander during Somalia's brutal civil war, has been living a quiet life near the nation's capital for about 20 years.  He is just one of more than 1,000 accused war criminals living and working in the United States.

How Islamic terrorists infiltrate U.S. airport security.  The fact that a Somali Muslim war criminal booted from Canada could somehow land a job at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., appears shocking on its face — but at least six dozen other employees with suspected terror links have been caught working at U.S. airports.  A CNN investigation found that Yusuf Abdi Ali, who is accused of committing atrocities while he was a military commander during Somalia's civil war, has been living a quiet suburban life in posh Alexandria, Virginia, for about 20 years, CNN reported.

Ben Gurion: the world's most secure airport?  As security concerns mount at international airports, more security officials are turning to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport to understand what it does differently.  The airport, considered one of the safest in the world, has layers of security, only partially visible to the 16 million passengers who pass through every year.

Intruders breach US airport fences every 10 days, report says.  Under pressure to prevent people from sneaking onto runways and planes at major U.S. airports, authorities are cracking down not on the intruders who slip through perimeter gates or jump over fences, but on the release of information about the breaches.

Flight delayed when math mistaken for terrorism by passenger.  American Airlines confirms that a woman expressed suspicions about University of Pennsylvania economics professor Guido Menzio.  He was flying from Philadelphia to Syracuse on Thursday [5/5/2016] to give a talk at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada.  He was working on a differential equation, but said he was told the woman thought he might be a terrorist because of what he was writing. [...] Menzio told the paper he was troubled by the women's ignorance as well as "a security protocol that is too rigid — in the sense the once the whistle is blown everything stops without checks — and relies on the input of people who may be completely clueless."

The Editor says...
At least two factors led to this situation:  (1) The poorly educated masses don't recognize math symbols and nomenclature when they see them, and (2) everybody at the airport is suspicious of everybody else.

Close Airport Security Gap:  Screen Workers.  The Senate has passed an aviation security bill requiring tougher vetting of airport workers to thwart attacks on airports like the bombings in Brussels.  Obama should waste no time signing this bill.

Only 3 US Airports Screen Employees Daily Before Work.  At Senate Commerce Committee session, lawmakers heard that only three airports in the United States require their employees to undergo a security check before they begin their work day.  "Atlanta, Miami, Orlando.  What about the other 297 airports nationwide?" asked committee co-chair Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida).  TSA (Transportation Security Administration) head Robert Neffenger answered that while the TSA has "increased the inspection of employees five-fold in the last five months," more needs to be done.  Neffenger said that all airports were asked to provide a report by the end of the month assessing their vulnerabilies.

Only 3 U.S. Airports Require Employee Security Checks.  Less than a month after a news outfit reported that dozens of airport employees around the country have potential ties to terrorists, officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admit that only three airports in the United States require workers to undergo security checks.  The astounding admission, delivered this week before Congress, comes on the heels of a number of cases involving gun and drug-smuggling schemes operated by airline employees at major airports, including those located in Atlanta, New York and San Francisco.

At least Fifty ISIS supporters are working as baggage handlers, cleaners and catering staff at Brussels airport, claim police.  Police at Brussels airport have claimed at least 50 Islamic State supporters are working there as baggage handlers, cleaners and catering staff.  In an astonishing open letter, the officers said they have warned about the terrorist sympathisers whose security badges give them access to planes, but they remain employed.  The airport police, who are threatening to go on strike because of security deficiencies, also said they have raised the issue of terrorists scouting the airport to plan possible attacks.

50 ISIS sympathizers working at Brussels airport, warns police union.  As many as 50 ISIS supporters have infiltrated the same Brussels airport where terror attacks occurred last month, working as cleaners, caterers and baggage handlers and positioning themselves for new attacks, the Belgian police union warned in an open letter to the government.  "Even today, there are at least 50 supporters of ISIS who work at the airport," read the letter from union secretary Alain Peeters to the Belgian Interior Ministry and reported by the Daily Mail.  "They have a security badge and have access to the cockpit of a plane."

Judge Orders Coke Bust Flight Attendant Back to California.  The flight attendant who allegedly ditched $3 million worth of cocaine at the Los Angeles airport and went on the run will be flying back to California in the custody of U.S. Marshals.  A federal judge in New York, where former beauty queen Marsha Gay Reynolds had surrendered, had approved a $500,000 bail package for her on Thursday [3/24/2016], but prosecutors immediately appealed.

Flight attendant leaves 70 pounds of coke at TSA checkpoint.  Normally, flight crews using that gate get minimal scrutiny.  But the nervous drug mule got unlucky — and was randomly chosen to have her bags inspected.  Realizing she was on the brink of being busted, cops said the female flight attendant got nervous.  She used her cell phone to make a call to someone, speaking in a language that the agents did not recognize as English or Spanish.  As security escorted her the front of the screening area, she finally came to the conclusion that the jig was up — and took off running, according to police.  She made it about 15 feet with her carry-on bags before ditching them — leaving behind a large cache of dope.

Brilliant: NYC Airport Allowed International Flights to Arrive Without Going Through Customs.  Over the weekend the New York Daily News reported that, "JFK allowed passengers arriving on international flight to exit without going through Customs".  Reading through the article, one finds that it wasn't just customs that was bypassed, meaning that any contraband articles got through; it was also the immigration checks, meaning not only that excludable aliens got through, but that even legitimate nonimmigrant travelers are now free to roam around the United States without any official limits to their stay — in fact, without any official record that they ever entered.

Guard dogs without teeth:
Guidance to unarmed aviation police: Run and hide.  Hundreds of police officers at one of the country's busiest airports say in the case of an active shooter, they are instructed to run and hide.  That's because these officers are unique among the nation's major airports:  They don't carry guns.  Their badges, uniforms and vehicles all say "police."  And they are certified police officers in the state of Illinois.  But these nearly 300 aviation police officers, also known as aviation security officers, are not allowed to carry guns at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports.

Chicago Airport Police Told To 'Run And Hide' During Active Shooter Situation.  The nearly 300 unarmed police officers patrolling Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports have been told to "run and hide" during active shootings.  Internal aviation department documents obtained by CNN instruct officers not "to become part of the response" to an attack.  "If evacuation is not possible, you should find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you.  Block entry to your hiding place and lock the door," but Matt Brandon, secretary-treasurer of the airport officers union, told CNN they have serious issues with the protocol.

57 Paris Airport Workers Are On Terror Watch List.  The Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris has forced France to examine its security policies, including at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, where it was recently discovered that 57 employees who had access to airplanes and runways were on a terror watch list.  Now, the security passes of 86,000 workers at the Paris airport will be reviewed, according to a report by the Sunday Times of London.

Airport-Security Shock: 'Crew Can Be Infiltrated'.  The downing of a Russian jet in Egypt's Sinai Desert on Oct. 31 by the Islamic State group has exposed gaping holes in U.S. airport security.  Authorities say a local baggage handler at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Egypt planted a bomb inside a soda can that killed all 224 passengers aboard Metrojet Airbus 321-200.  The revelation has sparked renewed scrutiny of a June 4 report by the Department of Homeland Security, which found 73 aviation workers employed by airlines and vendors had alleged ties to terrorism.  Risk management expert Vernon L.  Grose told WND on Monday that U.S. airport security is still woefully lacking 14 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

150 on flight from Mexico allowed to skip customs, leave JFK airport.  Airline and security officials at Kennedy Airport let 150 passengers arriving from an international flight leave the airport without going through customs, the [New York] Daily News has learned.

American Airlines officials allow passengers on a flight from Mexico to skip customs and leave JFK airport.  Officials allowed passengers arriving from Mexico to skip customs and leave John F. Kennedy airport without having their passports or bags checked — days after ISIS threatened an attack on New York City.  The incident involved American Airlines Flight 1671, which landed in the city from Cancun at 8.50pm on Friday [11/20/2015].  A spokesman for the airline told Daily Mail Online that there had been 74 passengers on the flight and 'some' passengers did not go through immigration or customs before leaving the airport — although declined to reveal an exact figure.

Woman talks her way past security, enters cockpit of plane at Illinois airport.  A woman was able to talk her way past a security guard at an Illinois airport Wednesday and enter the cockpit of a private plane before she was caught and taken to a hospital for psychiatric observation, authorities said.  Sauget, Illinois police say the 38-year-old St. Louis woman entered a 20-seat Global Express plane on the tarmac of the St. Louis Downtown Airport about 4 a.m. Wednesday [8/5/2015].

Intoxicated air traffic controller found shirtless, unconscious on floor of control tower.  OK, raise your hand if you've ever had the kind of night out that stretches into the next morning, the kind where you don't greet the new day as much as you just try not to barf on its shoes?  And keep those hands up if you've ever stumbled into work still drunk, taken your shirt off and then passed out facedown in your own office?  Just you, Philip Maschek?  The 50-year-old Arkansas air traffic controller was arrested after one of his coworkers found him unconscious on the floor of the control tower at the Springdale Municipal Airport last Thursday morning [7/16/2015] (the police report says he was found "passed out in his chair with his shirt off" — either way, it's not good).

46 Indicted on Charges Related to Smuggling Drugs on Flights.  Dozens of people are facing charges related to smuggling drugs into several U.S. cities on commercial flights from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, federal prosecutors said Wednesday [7/15/2015].

More Airport Security Badges Missing as Pols Demand Answers.  Washington lawmakers are demanding an accounting of how many airport security badges have been lost or stolen around the country as an NBC News investigation reveals the problem may be bigger than originally thought.  "Clearly there are an awful lot of things falling through the cracks and there's just no room for error when it comes to this issue.  We need answers.  They're not providing them," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who chairs the Transportation Committee.

FBI: Computer expert briefly made plane fly sideways.  A computer security expert hacked into a plane's in-flight entertainment system and made it briefly fly sideways by telling one of the engines to go into climb mode.  Chris Roberts of One World Labs in Denver was flying on the plane at the time it turned sideways, according to an FBI search warrant filed in April.

Federal Safety Inspector Arrested After Allegedly Flying With Gun in Bag.  A Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector was arrested at New York's LaGuardia Airport after a firearm was allegedly found in his carry-on bag at the security checkpoint, the TSA announced today [1/17/2015].  The TSA said in a statement it was investigating along with the FAA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.

Georgia Airline Worker Arrested in Gun Smuggling Plot.  An Atlanta airline baggage handler suspected of helping smuggle firearms onto passenger jets to New York City has been arrested by federal agents, authorities said Monday [12/22/2014].

Side-by-side with a future terrorist at MSP Airport.  The Fox 9 Investigators learned that of three men recruited from Minnesota to fight for either ISIS or al-Shabaab all once held jobs at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and each hold security clearances that gave them access to parts of the airport a traveler will never see.  When exactly these men were radicalized is unclear.  The good news:  It doesn't appear the airport was ever their intended target.  The bad news:  Experts fear that scenario may be just a matter of time.

Airport baggage handlers booked on theft charges after guns, electronics go missing from luggage.  Three baggage handlers at Louis Armstrong International Airport were arrested Thursday (Sept. 24) in connection with the theft of guns and electronics from checked luggage, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release.  Neishel Santana, 22 was booked on charges of theft and possession of stolen property.  Derrin James, 19, was booked on two counts of theft of a firearm.  Romalice Honeycutt, 23, was booked on a charge of being a principal to theft of a firearm.  They were caught after Dallas law enforcement, investigating the theft of a laptop from luggage on an American Airlines flight out of New Orleans, found out through a pawn-shop database that the computer had been sold at Jefferson Parish pawn shop and contacted local authorities.

Security at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.  Questions began to emerge after Fox 9 News revealed that an alleged terrorist spent a decade working at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.  Now, details of shoddy security are coming out too.

Passport officers aren't too good at spotting fake photos.  If you've been lucky enough to enjoy a vacation this summer, you've most likely handed your photo ID over to a TSA agent (or your own country's equivalent).  But according to a study published Monday in PLOS ONE, endless practice hasn't turned them into human passport-scanning machines.  In fact, the people responsible for checking photo identification all day might not be any better at recognizing a mismatched face than you are.

TSA Allowing Illegals to Fly Without Verifiable ID, Says Border Patrol Union.  Illegal aliens are being allowed to fly on commercial airliners without valid identification, according to the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC).  "The aliens who are getting released on their own recognizance are being allowed to board and travel commercial airliners by simply showing their Notice to Appear forms," NBPC's Local 2455 Spokesman, Hector Garza, told Breitbart Texas.

TSA Attacks Breitbart Texas Report of Illegals Being Allowed to Fly Without ID.  The Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) claims that Breitbart News' report that TSA officials are allowing illegal aliens to fly on commercial airlines without valid identification and by simply showing their Notice to Appear forms is false and inaccurate reporting.  In a sequence of tweets between Ross Feinstein, press secretary/spokesman of the TSA, and Managing Director of Breitbart Texas, Brandon Darby, Feinstein trashed Darby's sources, saying that National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) spokesman Hector Garza and Shawn Moran, the vice president of the NBPC, are inaccurate.

Border Patrol Union: TSA 'Lying,' Changed Policy After Breitbart Report.  In a Breitbart Texas exclusive, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) directly challenged the truthfulness of public statements made by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).  The TSA spokesman used social media to claim that Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby and the NBPC were lying about a recent report that the TSA is allowing illegal aliens to fly on commercial airliners without verifiable identification.

Teen stowaway shows holes in vast airport security.  Although the 15-year-old apparently wanted nothing more than to run away, his success in slipping past layers of security early Sunday morning [4/20/2014] made it clear that a determined person can still get into a supposedly safe area and sneak onto a plane.

The Editor says...
Yes, you can climb over a fence and "onto a plane" — if you don't mind riding in the wheel well, where you are very likely to be crushed when the landing gear is retracted after takeoff, or frozen to death, or asphyxiated at high altitude.

At Airports, a Misplaced Faith in Body Language.  Like the rest of us, airport security screeners like to think they can read body language.  The Transportation Security Administration has spent some $1 billion training thousands of "behavior detection officers" to look for facial expressions and other nonverbal clues that would identify terrorists.  But critics say there's no evidence that these efforts have stopped a single terrorist or accomplished much beyond inconveniencing tens of thousands of passengers a year.  The T.S.A. seems to have fallen for a classic form of self-deception:  the belief that you can read liars' minds by watching their bodies.

Passengers on international flight bypass immigration after plane arrives at the wrong terminal.  International flight security concerns have been raised as passengers on board a flight from London to New York's JFK were left to bypass immigration when the plane arrived at the wrong terminal.  Passengers on the Delta Air Lines fight were let out into a section of the airport where they did not have to pass through immigration or customs.  They were only stopped when airport employees realised they were in the wrong part of the airport.

USAPA Security Update.  Bringing down an airliner continues to be the Gold Standard of terrorism.  If anyone thinks that our enemies have "been there, done that" and are not targeting US commercial aviation — think again.  There have been several cases recently throughout the industry of what appear to be probes, or dry-runs, to test our procedures and reaction to an inflight threat.

Allen West Warns of Islamic Terrorist Threat.  A recent unpublicized incident where several "Middle Eastern" men conducted, what some airline security experts believe was a "dry run" of a potential future terrorist attack aboard a U.S. airline, is raising questions about how real another 9/11-style attack really is.

Terrorists Doing 9/11-Style Dry Runs On Airplanes.  US Airline Pilots Association's Steve Sevier cited a Sept. 2 incident in which a group of "Middle Eastern males" started acting suspiciously after US Airways Flight 1880 took off from Washington to Orlando, Fla.  "Shortly after takeoff, one got up and ran from his seat in coach toward the flight deck door.  He made a hard left and entered the forward lav, where he stayed for a considerable length of time!" Sevier wrote.  "While he was in there, the others got up and proceeded to move about the cabin, changing seats, opening overhead bins and generally making a scene.  They appeared to be trying to occupy and distract the flight attendants."

10 News Investigators find memo warning about terrorist "dry-runs" on airplanes.  The 10 News Investigators have obtained an internal memo that details a frightening incident that brings back memories of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  Since then, federal efforts have gone in place to prevent a similar attack, leading many to believe another attack what happened on 9/11 could never happen again.  Wolf Koch, who flies Boeing 767s for Delta Airlines and is the Aviation Security Committee Chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association International, says that belief "is very foolish."

Memo details terrorist's 'dry run' aboard flight last month.  We've been hearing these reports for years, but this appears to be the real deal.  On a flight from Washington to Orlando last month, several Middle Eastern men caused what was termed a commotion and "appeared to be conducting a test run to gauge procedure and reaction to an in-flight threat during an incident aboard US Airways Flight 1880 from Reagan National Airport to Orlando International Airport on Sept. 2," according to Fox News.

Pilots union warns of 'dry run' by possible terrorists on US flight.  Security experts for a major airline's pilot's union have warned members that potential terrorists conducted apparent "dry runs" aboard domestic flights in recent weeks, and urged flight crews not to be pressured into taking to the skies if they are fearful.  A memo from the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,000 pilots who fly for US Airways, cites "several cases recently throughout the (airline) industry of what appear to be probes, or dry runs, to test our procedures and reaction to an in-flight threat."

TSA Agent Arrested for Smuggling Illegal Aliens.  A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent was arrested Friday for conspiring to smuggle illegal aliens into the country.  Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers arrested David Alexander Díaz-Torres in Orlando, Fla., according to the Justice Department. Díaz-Torres and five others were charged in a 13-count indictment for bringing, transporting, harboring, and shielding illegal aliens within the United States.

Homeland Security Fail.  Frightening evidence of how lax our airport security has become is provided by an incident near Los Angeles, where a parked private jet airplane was tagged by a graffiti  artist  vandal.

Terrorists given new identities allowed to board commercial flights, IG report finds.  An investigation of the Justice Department's witness protection program uncovered glaring security problems that allowed terrorists who had been given new identities after cooperating with U.S. prosecutors to board commercial flights in the United States.  In some cases, suspects whose names were on federal watch lists that were meant to keep them off commercial aircraft were nevertheless able to board flights because the Justice Department had failed to add their new, government-issued identities to counterterrorism databases.

Spy Cameras Won't Make Us Safer.  On January 19, a team of at least 15 people assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.  The Dubai police released video footage of 11 of them.  While it was obviously a very professional operation, the 27 minutes of video is fascinating in its banality.  Team members walk through the airport, check in and out of hotels, get in and out of taxis.  They make no effort to hide themselves from the cameras, sometimes seeming to stare directly into them.  They obviously don't care that they're being recorded, and — in fact — the cameras didn't prevent the assassination, nor as far as we know have they helped as yet in identifying the killers.

Shocking stun-gun lapse at Kennedy.  A Greek national was able to slip a stun gun past inept TSA agents at Kennedy Airport yesterday [3/13/2013] after using it in the alleged rape and assault of his ex-girlfriend in Queens, authorities said.  Prodromos Vasilopoulous was about to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London when he was picked up by authorities at the gate at around 8 a.m.  He had the stun gun in his Nike carry-on bag, and had no trouble getting it past the security checkpoint, sources said.

TSA screeners allow undercover agent with a fake bomb in his pants to pass through security.  The security breach took place on February 25 when the TSA's special operations team staged a mock intrusion at the airport.  The 'bomber' was even given a pat-down and still allowed through.  'This episode once again demonstrates how Newark Airport is the Ground Zero of TSA failures,' a source told the New York Post.

Flaw seen in TSA boarding-pass security.  Widely available smartphone applications can scan airline boarding passes to see if passengers are scheduled for additional screening by the Transportation Security Administration, which a security expert flags as a flaw in the system.  The flaw involves PreCheck passengers, who are typically allowed to keep their shoes and belts on, and their laptops and small containers of liquids in their bags at checkpoints.

Simple security flaw with TSA PreCheck boarding passes.  The bar code on airline boarding passes for passengers enrolled in the TSA PreCheck scheme could pose a serious security threat after flight enthusiasts revealed that the numbers contain important information about the type of security check passengers can expect to receive.  The flaw was uncovered by aviation blogger John Butler after he discovered that the information stored in his TSA PreCheck bar code wasn't encrypted.

Hacking TSA PreCheck.  What a dumb way to design the system.  It would be easier — and far more secure — if the boarding pass checker just randomly chose 10%, or whatever percentage they want, of PreCheck passengers to send through regular screening.  Why go through the trouble of encoding it in the barcode and then reading it?  And — of course — this means that you can still print your own boarding pass.  On the other hand, I think the PreCheck level of airport screening is what everyone should get, and that the no-fly list and the photo ID check add nothing to security.  So I don't feel any less safe because of this vulnerability.