Man in Cargo Plane Exposes Security Gaps

September 10, 2003
Man in Cargo Plane Exposes Security Gaps
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A shipping clerk's bizarre trip halfway across the
country in a crate aboard a cargo plane exposed holes in aviation
security never addressed by the high-profile security upgrades for
passenger air travel made since Sept. 11, 2001.

In fact, little about air cargo has changed since the terrorist
attacks two years ago, a fact critics were quick to jump on Wednesday
as the clerk's trip gained nationwide publicity.

Unlike commercial aircraft, no air marshals fly aboard cargo planes,
most of which lack bulletproof cockpit doors. Some don't even have
doors. Not all shipping and freight employees are subject to
background checks, as are commercial airline employees with access to
sensitive areas of airports. Airport areas where cargo is handled are
not as secure as passenger terminals.

And while every passenger and piece of luggage goes through security
checks, only spot checks are made of goods shipped aboard cargo
planes.

``Despite the progress made in passenger and baggage safety, air cargo
flies virtually unchecked in our skies,'' said Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, a member of the committee that oversees aviation.

Congress is focusing new attention on cargo security because of the
recent trip taken by Charles McKinley, the clerk who had himself
shipped in a crate on a cargo plane from Newark, N.J. to Dallas.

Before climbing into a box last Friday, according to the FBI, he
filled out shipping instructions saying the crate held a computer and
clothes. He then was loaded onto a truck at New York's Kennedy Airport
and driven to Newark, where he was loaded onto a plane operated by
Kitty Hawk Cargo. The plane stopped in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and the
carrier's hub in Fort Wayne, Ind., before arriving in Dallas, the FBI
said.

Authorities believe McKinley had help in loading himself in the box
from at least one co-worker at the warehouse where he works in New
York.

The shipping company, Texas-based Kitty Hawk Cargo, said in a
statement that it followed all current cargo security procedures.

McKinley's escapade showed the vulnerability of the cargo system,
critics say. Had he been a trained terrorist with weapons hidden in
the crate, McKinley might have been able to commandeer the plane and
crash it into a building just as the Sept. 11 hijackers did.

``He could have walked up to the front of the aircraft and done bodily
harm and commandeered that plane, I have no doubt in my mind,'' said
Capt. James Shilling, spokesman for the Coalition of Airline Pilots
Associations, which represents five major airlines including UPS and
Airborne Express. ``Thank God he was just a crazy kid and not a
terrorist.''

Shilling, a cargo pilot, flies in and out of what he calls ``the dark
side of airports.''

Airport lighting in cargo areas sometimes consists of a Coleman
generator with a light stand on it, he said. There may be a chain link
fence with a lock. There may or may not be a guard.

``What good is it if you lock your front door and leave your back door
open?'' Shilling said.

The General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, reported
Tuesday that theft is a major problem in air cargo shipping,
``signifying that unauthorized personnel may still be gaining access
to air cargo shipments,'' the report said.

Brian Turmail, Transportation Security Administration spokesman, said
the agency is working to better protect airport perimeters, finding
out more about what's being shipped and getting voluntary agreements
from shippers to conduct background checks on their employees.

``We're heading in the right direction,'' he said. ``We've got a lot
of work to do.''

He said government inspectors are examining security procedures at the
nation's 44 cargo airports.

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., is sponsoring legislation calling for the
arming of cargo pilots. Commercial pilots who volunteer and receive
training are allowed to carry weapons but cargo companies successfully
fought against adding their pilots when Congress considered the issue.

``You've got to have some kind of last resort,'' Bunning said.

Another concern are the packages and mail shipped aboard passenger
planes. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is sponsoring a bill to require all
such cargo to be screened and inspected before being loaded onto
passenger planes.

``If you're wearing a dress and heels, you'll get searched,'' he said.
``If you're wearing a box like Charles McKinley, neither you nor the
box will get searched.''

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On the Net:

TSA: http://www.tsa.gov


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admin wrote:


``If you're wearing a dress and heels, you'll get searched,'' he said.
``If you're wearing a box like Charles McKinley, neither you nor the
box will get searched.''


More Homeland Security hype..

This was a cargo plane.
How many injuries could he have caused among passengers?
Did he have cockpit access?

"mrtravel" wrote in message
. ..
admin wrote:


``If you're wearing a dress and heels, you'll get searched,'' he said.
``If you're wearing a box like Charles McKinley, neither you nor the
box will get searched.''


More Homeland Security hype..

This was a cargo plane.
How many injuries could he have caused among passengers?
Did he have cockpit access?

Better yet, how many injuries could he have caused if if the airplane had
exploded at the airport while loading or waiting to take off or even flying
over some highly populated area?

Think of the impact on the mental state of the flying public of having a
plane blow up while at the airport regardless of the number of casualties.

Regards.

Newby wrote:

Better yet, how many injuries could he have caused if if the airplane had
exploded at the airport while loading or waiting to take off or even flying
over some highly populated area?

More or less than a truck bomb?
Should we ban trucks from the street?

It's not like the guy in the cargo hold is going to force the plane to
fly into an office tower.

"mrtravel" wrote in message
. ..
admin wrote:


``If you're wearing a dress and heels, you'll get searched,'' he said.
``If you're wearing a box like Charles McKinley, neither you nor the
box will get searched.''


More Homeland Security hype..

This was a cargo plane.
How many injuries could he have caused among passengers?
Did he have cockpit access?

He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or the
Whitehouse, etc. Aside from the lose of lives, there would be the
psychological damage.

Peter L wrote:

He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or the
Whitehouse, etc.

Yeah, right.

In article ,
mrtravel wrote:

Peter L wrote:

He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or the
Whitehouse, etc.

Yeah, right.


you are unaware that a cargo jet was overpowered and crashed? using it
as a bomb is probably easier than using a commercial airliner.

"mrtravel" wrote in message
m...
Peter L wrote:

He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or
the
Whitehouse, etc.

Yeah, right.


About as likely as six guys hijacking a plane and fly it into the World
Trade Center.

Jenn wrote:
In article ,
mrtravel wrote:


Peter L wrote:


He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or the
Whitehouse, etc.

Yeah, right.



you are unaware that a cargo jet was overpowered and crashed? using it
as a bomb is probably easier than using a commercial airliner.

Details??? Where was the person that overpowered it?
The solution is still simple...
Keep the flight crew in the cockpit...........

"Peter L" wrote in message ...
"mrtravel" wrote in message
. ..
admin wrote:


``If you're wearing a dress and heels, you'll get searched,'' he said.
``If you're wearing a box like Charles McKinley, neither you nor the
box will get searched.''


More Homeland Security hype..

This was a cargo plane.
How many injuries could he have caused among passengers?
Did he have cockpit access?

He could've commandeered the plane and flew it into a tall building, or the
Whitehouse, etc. Aside from the lose of lives, there would be the
psychological damage.





Watched to many terrorist/hijack movies of in-flight and regular varieties?