U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging the Transportation Security Administration to screen all airline and airport employees before they enter secure areas at airports after an investigation found two Delta Airlines were allegedly involved in a gun smuggling scheme that transported guns between Atlanta and New York City.
The findings were the result of an investigation conducted by Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. Authorities have charged five men in connection with the gun running operation, including two individuals who were current or former ramp agents for Delta Airlines.
Mark Henry, who worked as a Delta ramp agent from 2007 to 2010, allegedly transported guns on 17 flights between Atlanta and New York City airports between May 8, 2014 and Dec. 10, 2014.
A Delta ramp agent, Eugene Harvey, allegedly assisted Henry. Henry would give bags of guns to Harvey, who wasn’t required to pass through security checkpoints at the Atlanta airport. He used employee entrances to obtain access to secure areas in the airport.
Once Henry passed through the passenger security check, Harvey allegedly returned the guns to Henry in exchange for money. Henry then boarded his flights to New York City.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said just like government employees, airline passengers and members of the flight crew, airline and airport employees should be screened before gaining access to secure areas of the airport.
“When guns, drugs and even explosives are as easy to carry on board a plane as a neck pillow, then we have to seriously — and immediately — overhaul our airport security practices,” Schumer said in a statement. “In this day and age of terrorism, rampant drug dealing and gun smuggling, we just can’t be too careful.”
In a letter to TSA Acting Administrator Melvin Carraway, Schumer urged the agency to require airports to implement the mandate as part of its unique Airport Security Plan.
“Each and every airport nationwide should be required to develop a comprehensive physical screening procedure for employees as soon as possible,” he wrote.
Here is the letter Schumer sent to Carraway:
Dear Acting Administrator,
Thank you for your continued efforts to keep our nation and the traveling public safe. I’m sure you were as alarmed as I was to hear the news, following a case brought by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, that an airline worker smuggled dangerous, sometimes loaded, weapons and ammunition through the Atlanta airport and onto planes destined for New York City.
The investigation by DA Thompson has determined that this gun-smuggling ring operated without impediment for almost six months. Fundamental to their scheme was the lack of airline employee physical screening that allowed an airline employee to carry numerous lethal weapons into the theoretically secure passenger boarding area, where they were handed off to a passenger who brought them aboard a plane as carry-on luggage.
This lack of physical screening of employees is not limited to Atlanta; in fact, once most employees submit to background checks and security threat assessments, they are cleared for access to secure areas in airports across the country. One can easily imagine terrorists employing similar techniques to the Atlanta criminals, in order to get loaded weapons onto planes, and this is simply an unacceptable risk.
The security breaches that occurred at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta National Airport are a frightening wake-up call that must be heeded with all due speed. Thankfully, this employee and his co-conspirators have been arrested, but this incident has exposed a gaping loophole in airport security that must be promptly addressed and eliminated.
As head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), I ask that you implement a national requirement that airline employees go through physical screening each and every time they enter the secure areas of an airport. Each and every airport nationwide should be required to develop a comprehensive physical screening procedure for employees as soon as possible. Though I realize this may seem to be a burden to some, we know well from prior tragedies that security is of paramount importance. The 9-11 attacks on New York City and other parts of the country were tragic examples of what can happen when security breaches occur in airports, and we must do everything in our power to prevent similar tragedies. Under your leadership, the TSA has done an admirable job of screening all the passengers on airlines, providing background screening of employees at airports, and developing physical security plans at every airport. DA Thompson’s case has revealed that we must do a little bit more: everyone entering an airport should be subject to physical screening, regardless of whether they are a passenger or employee.
Thank you, and I look forward to working with you on this important issue.
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