Air India security breaches at Pearson discussed

Aviation and security officials met Monday to determine how security breaches could have taken place two nights in a row at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
In two incidents over the weekend, baggage scanners failed to detect passengers carrying knives -- and planning to travel on Air India planes.
On Saturday, an elderly couple made it through security with a set of kitchen knives and a potato peeler in their carry-on bag. On Sunday, an eighty-year-old man in a wheelchair slipped by with a small knife in his pocket.
In both cases, Air India staff found the prohibited items at the boarding gate. Because of the tragic security breach that led to the death of 329 people in 1985 after a bomb detonated on Air India's Flight 182, the airline routinely does its own bag searches.
Security was tightened on Monday, but all terminals were operating normally -- and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the government organization responsible for Pearson's screening system, was still handling security.
A representative from CATSA apologized for the breaches, and said if officials found anything wrong with the organization's general procedures, they will be changed.
GTAA spokesperson Scott Armstrong told the Canadian Press in an interview it was too early to tell whether the two security breaches are signs of a problem with the screening process that's currently in place.
The incidents came a week after the airport increased security in response to a flaming SUV that drove into a Scotland airport terminal building's entrance.
10/07/07 CTV.ca, Canada

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Categories: Air India Jul 2007, Foreign Jul 2007, Safety Jul 2007