Agencies argued over security pay ahead of Air India bombing

Ottawa: The RCMP and Transport Canada were embroiled in a dispute over who would pay for additional security for Air India in the weeks leading up to the 1985 bombing that claimed 329 lives, a public inquiry has heard.
But former Mountie Joe MacDonald insisted Monday that the spat didn't mean the airline was left unprotected from terrorist threats.
"It didn't affect the coverage" he told the inquiry. "They continued with the coverage (and said) basically we'll worry about the money later. But the arguments were going on all the time."
The security coverage given to Air India - categorized as "level 4," the second-highest possible - called for RCMP officers to be deployed at check-in counters, arrival and departure lounges, and for a cruiser to be stationed on the tarmac near the aircraft.
Level 4 was also supposed to mean an RCMP sniffer dog would be on call to check suspect luggage pulled aside during the pre-boarding process.
As a rule, said MacDonald, that was no problem: "The dogs were at the airport, they were stationed at the airport . . . They didn't have duties off the airport."
But it's known from documents tabled at the inquiry that no dogs were used to screen the luggage loaded aboard Air India Flight 182 before it departed Pearson Airport in Toronto on June 22, 1985.
It's not clear exactly why that was the case. The inquiry is expected to delve into the matter when other police and Transport Canada officials testify later this week.
No RCMP dog was on hand either when the plane stopped later that night at Montreal's Mirabel Airport. A Quebec provincial police dog handler was called in as a backup - but the plane took off before he arrived at the airport.
The failure to properly employ the canine teams marked the end of a long series of security oversights. An X-ray machine at Pearson also broke down during luggage screening, and a hand-held electronic wand proved to be ineffective in detecting explosives.
14/05/07 Jim Brown/Canadian Press/Canada.com, Canada

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Categories: Air India May 2007, Foreign May 2007, Safety Apr 2007