When it comes to aviation security, this week will probably go down as one of the worst in history for jetBlue. First, one of their pilots managed to lose a backpack containing a gun – and now a new incident has made a total mockery of their security procedures.
When an undercover TSA security team tested jetBlue staff at Charlotte airport, they were allegedly able to walk up to a ticket counter, tell the agent that they really needed a package to get to Boston that day, hand over $100 in cash, and get the package labeled for the next flight out.
Horrifyingly – the agent pocketed the $100 himself, then tagged the bag using the name of a random passenger on the Boston flight.
The possibilities for disaster here are endless -the box could have contained a bomb, drugs or any number of prohibited items, and the jetBlue employee gladly assisted with whatever plans a terrorist could have prepared. Despite spending billions on airport security, scanning passengers with multi-million Dollar whole body imagers and forcing people to give up on full size toiletries, the entire aviation security system was defeated by one greedy moron.
After the failed Yemen printer bombs came close to blowing up passenger planes, cargo has been a real concern – and instead of beefing up security, incidents like this point out the major holes in our aviation system.
After CBS Boston broadcast their findings, jetBlue issued the usual kind of statement, saying they were “fully cooperating with the TSA’s investigation” and “the involved crew member is no longer employed at JetBlue.
Charlotte airport has its own share of security issues – last year, the body of 15 year old Delvonte Tisdale was found badly mangled outside Boston Airport after falling from the wheel-well of a plane he had hidden under. The boy had somehow managed to bypass the airport perimeter security and make his way to the gate area.
[Photo from Flickr/Willamor Media]