View Full Version : Man sneaks 14 guns into jet's cabin at OIA
Kyobanim
03-08-2007, 05:54
This actually came out yesterday . . .
An airline employee at Orlando International Airport used his security privileges Monday to sneak a duffel bag containing 13 handguns, an assault rifle and 8 pounds of marijuana aboard a Delta flight to San Juan.
Puerto Rico police arrested Thomas Anthony Munoz, 22, of Kissimmee and confiscated the weapons after he walked off Delta Air Lines Flight 933 on Monday afternoon, carrying a bagful of weapons.
Full story here. (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-mprguns0707mar07,0,4880951.story?coll=orl-home-headlines)
There are several associated stories with this also.
WOW!!!!
TSA is just awsome.:eek:
Ret10Echo
03-08-2007, 06:14
The airports and their "Maginot Line"....no one would ever think to go around our defenses....we have yellow painted lines and road cones.
Boy....he sure had his heart set on becoming a "Special Operator" and getting on with "Delta", didn't he.
Sorry.....I couldn't help it. :D :D :D
Boy....he sure had his heart set on becoming a "Special Operator" and getting on with "Delta", didn't he.
Sorry.....I couldn't help it. :D :D :D
:p
That was sooooooooo baaaaaaaadddddddd!
WOW!!!!
TSA is just awsome.:eek:
I believe the story mentions he used security credentials given to airline employees to do this, so as much as I don't like the TSA, I'm hesitant to lay the blame fully in their laps.
I believe the story mentions he used security credentials given to airline employees to do this, so as much as I don't like the TSA, I'm hesitant to lay the blame fully in their LAPSE.
That is all
;)
Air, Air, Air. Had I meant 'lapse', as in a temporary failing, I would appreciate your kind assist. As it stands, however, I meant lap(s), as in the areas below the waist and above the knees that is created when one sits down; perhaps more likely to be recognized by you when used in conjunction with the word 'dance'. ;)
Air, Air, Air. Had I meant 'lapse', as in a temporary failing, I would appreciate your kind assist. As it stands, however, I meant lap(s), as in the areas below the waist and above the knees that is created when one sits down; perhaps more likely to be recognized by you when used in conjunction with the word 'dance'. ;)
In that case, I stand corrected, Drive on sir.
He used his status as an employee to enter a sterile area with his luggage. Then he went from the sterile area onto the airplane, thus illegally going around security. Somebody realized this and phoned ahead to P.R.
The Airlines control access to airplanes by their own employees. When a worker shows up to work (ramp worker, operations worker, pilot, flight attendant) they do not typically go through TSA screening. I cannot explain that process, but TSA doesn't typically check airline employees when they show up for work. That is the responsibilty of the Airline, and its ground security coordinator. What I mean is, if a worker is properly credentialed he is authorized to be in an around the airplane. But he is not authorized to be a passenger, unless he is ticketed and goes through passenger screening. TSA is a deterrent - like the Club is to car thieves, TSA is not 100% Prevention.
TSA is mandated to do "PASSENGER" screening. This clown, once he showed up, did so as a worker - not a passenger. Not defending anyone here. Just illuminating the process. To prevent this the government would have to change the authority and regulations pertaining to the TSA. Everyone would have to be screened prior to entering the doors of the Airport, not just the departure gates.
Can you hear the people complaining? "We stood out in the wet and cold for three hours trying to get inside the airport!" Case in point: Two women brought down a Russian airplane full of passengers with worn explosives. In response TSA started patting down the torsos of female passengers, they used female screeners to do it. The cry went out against this practice, and the procedure was scrapped. TSA does what it does, how it does it because people complain, and in a democracy, thats what makes changes.
We're all free to come up with a better system, but when you consider what you would do and how you would do it, the reality is that your model must work in the current political/social environment too. Not just in your mind. Because - and I can guarantee this - a great many people are going to form a group in opposition to whatever your plan is. Some people with money, and influence are not going to like what you have say or do.
When TSA first came into existence the man at the helm was a former Secret Service exec. He intended to make TSA a law enforcement agency, staffed by law enforcement officers. A tough agency, with powers of arrest, etc. The airlines and its lobby promptly saw to it that he was shown the door. It doesn't matter what's right, it matters that the shareholders turn a profit.
Its a messy system, but its a product of its environment. Oh, and now the screeners have the right to form a union, this beast aint going anywhere.
The Reaper
03-09-2007, 13:53
I have held creds for access to the airport in San Juan before. All of it.
When I went through the mandatory class, they mentioned the improper uses of the badge that would have it revoked.
Apparently, they issued a lot of them there and had a high misuse/abuse rate.
I suspect that many US airports have that problem, even post 9/11, when passenger security has been tightened, and badged people represent a bigger threat to illegally bring items into the sterile area.
There are a multitude of other ways around airport security, none of which will bne discussed here. If I had my way, all badged access employees would undergo as a minimum, the same screening as for a Secret clearance.
TR
Unfortunatley what I see being seized on by the media is the fact that the weapons were purhcased at a Tampa area gun show.
I also love the fact that the AR-15 was turned in to a "military stlye automatic weapon".
Do we have a vomiting smiley?