Excerpted from EmergencyNet News Daily Report
9/13/96 --11:00CDT --Vol. 2, No. 257

FAA INVESTIGATES SECURITY LAPSES
AT NEWARK INTERNATIONAL
By Jim Fay ENN NYC-NJ Metro Correspondent

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY (ENN) - Following a scathing report by The Record of Hackensack (NJ) newspaper in which a reporter easily accessed supposedly secured areas at Newark International Airport, the FAA has begun an investigation of that airport's security.

The Wednesday, September 11th, issue of The Record reported that correspondent Michael Moore easily entered baggage areas, observed contract security guards sleeping on post, and, at one point, accessed the ramp, or tarmac, area of the airport leaning his foot on one wheel of a parked plane. At no time was he stopped or challenged. It was also found that checked luggage for international flights were not being hand-searched or even X-rayed by airline personnel, and that the machines for those tasks sat unused in the baggage rooms that the reporter easily accessed.

Due to the importance of Newark in the NYC hub, and the fact that it is the 13th busiest airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that they found the lapses in security at Newark "disturbing," and that a Federal investigation is mandated immediately.

Throughout the newspaper article, there are reports that airline personnel as well as private security guards-ostensibly hired to prevent just such activity-took no action or questioned the reporter to find why he had no mandatory identification displayed. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who manages the three New York metropolitan airports, including Newark, had no comment on the findings, basically stating that they do not comment on security matters in general. The article, however, does not specifically fault the Port Authority Police for any of the security breeches.

In a follow-up report on Thursday, The Record reported that travel agents have been fielding many phone inquiries from fearful passengers who are ticketed to depart from Newark as a result of the Wednesday article.

It has been well reported that many in the security field have faulted the security hiring practices of the airlines, as well as the lack of ability of those hired, as it relates to overall airport security. Many have called for the government take over this operation from the airlines, in order to prevent ongoing breeches and to maintain a stable work force in this important position.

(C) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996. All rights reserved; Contact ENN for permission to redistribute.