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Security warnings went unheeded
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Security warnings went unheeded
Knob
Tecimoksst
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Former FAA
special agent
foresaw
problems at
Logan Airport
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Stiovatigfte
Former FAA special agent
Brian Suilivan
By Chris Hansen
NBC NEWS
Transportation Secretary Norman
Mineta announced Sunday that he has created
two new task forces to work on improving air
security. One will look at ways to prevent
terrorists from gaining access to cockpits, the
other will try to come up with a system to stop
terrorists from getting aboard planes as two
groups did, with such apparent ease Tuesday, at
Boston's Logan Airport. Perhaps both of those
protective systems would have already been in
place at Logan, and elsewhere, if anyone had
listened to one man.
Sept. 16
—
• E-MALL THIS
http://www.msnbc.conilnews/629905.asp
COMPLETE STORY
09/1712001
�Security warnings went unheeded
Clods Hansen
NM CO USP6NQEM1
`Think what the
result would be of
a coordinated
attack which took
down several
domestic flights
on the same day...
[W]ith our current
screening system,
this is more than
possible. Given
time, considering
current threats, it
is almost likely.'
— LETTER
SULLIVAN WROTE
TO SEN. JOHN
KERRY
Page 2 of 5
FOR most of us, it was a scenario we had never
imagined, but not for Brian Sullivan.
"When I saw that plane hit the tower, I knew I
failed," says Sullivan. "I failed to get their attention."
A former special agent for The Federal Aviation
Administration for 10 years, Sullivan was responsible
for checking out the security of FAA radar towers
and air traffic control facilities. But after he retired
from the FAA in January, he became concerned
about the security at Logan International Airport in
Boston, as well as other airports throughout the
nation.
"I knew the system was vulnerable enough to
take down several domestic flights on any given
day," says Sullivan. "And I felt in my heart, please
don't tell me that there haven't been any hijackings
in the past five to ten years — they just decided they
weren't going to exploit the system."
He became so alarmed he decided the public
needed to know. So this spring he and another former
special agent helped a local television crew expose
security problems at Logan.
"We were successful in penetrating the security
screening check points at Logan nine out of 10
times," says Sullivan. "And if we were successful at
doing it, potential terrorist could do it."
This was hardly the first time that questions had
been raised about security at Logan. Between 1997
and 2000, undercover FAA inspectors found that
Logan airport security employees routinely failed to
detect test items like pipe bombs and guns. They
were also able to gain access to planes parked over
night, and other restricted areas without even being
questioned. In all, there were 136 security violations.
"When we did this video report, and it appeared
on television, there was a natural reaction on behalf
of the FAA and Massport," says Sullivan. "Two
weeks later after the dust settled, the people I was
involved with went back and re-tested with basically
the same result."
Besides helping the TV journalists, Sullivan says
he expressed his concerns to the FAA administrator's
hotline. He also says he sent a letter to Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry, a letter that now seems all too
prophetic.
From the letter:
"With the concept of jihad, do you think it would
be difficult for a terrorist to get on a plane and
http://www.msnbc.cominews/629905.asp
09/17/2001
�,Security warnings went unheeded
a Add local news and
Nagr weather to the MSNBC
home page.
Page 3 of 5
destroy himself and all other passengers? Think for a
moment how vital the air transportation industry is to
the overall economic well being as a nation. Think
what the result would be of a coordinated attack
which took down several domestic flights on the
same day. The problem is, with our current screening
system, this is more than possible. Given time,
considering current threats, it is almost likely."
Sullivan says Sen. Kerry responded to his letter
and asked the Department of Transportation's
Inspector General look into the matter.
"I think Sen. Kerry did get it to the right people
and they were about to take action."
The FAA also responded, but in a way that left
Sullivan unconvinced that anything would happen
anytime soon.
From that letter:
"The New England Region Civil Aviation
Security Division continues to work with the air
carriers and airport officials at the Boston Logan
International Airport to address security issues raised
by the video presentation."
That letter Sullivan provided to us is dated
August 20. Just three weeks later, the results of the
scenario that Sullivan had warned about were there
for everyone to see.
After the
disaster,
ERICA,
Massachusetts airport
authorities said that
• U.S. prepares for war
Logan Airport met all
• Latest on suspects
security requirements
• Afghan-Pakistan news
and had been as
• Report from rescue site
secure as any other
• News on air travel
airport in the country.
• The funerals commence
Sullivan doesn't buy
• Newsweek: Bin Laden
it.
• Newsweek: Prejudices
"There were
• Dateline: Flight 93
many others out there
• WSJ: Rebuilding towers?
• Victims in the terror attack
that saw this potential
• Readers share thoughts
and have been
• Video, photos
begging the
• COMPLETE COVERAGE
government to get us
to a level of requisite
security a height of security," says Sullivan, "where a
terrorist who was doing surveillance would have
looked and said, wait a minute, we need to move
onto a softer target. Obviously, they thought Logan,
Newark, and Dulles were places they could exploit.
The only thing Sullivan hadn't thought of was
http://www.msnbc.com/news/629905.asp
09/17/2001
�Page 4 of 5
,Secur ty wamings went unheeded
that the hijackers would choose to crash the planes
into two towers filled with people.
"How can I put my mind — my thought, my
mind, in their head, in the mind of a sick bastard who
believes so much in jihad that if I kill the infidel,
women, children, people at work, if I kill the infidel,
I go to heaven? I don't think so," says Sullivan.
These days,
N1More from Dateline
Sullivan watches
the images of
Schedule
•
devastation,
• Horrepage
heartbroken not just
• Newsletter
what he sees, but at
what he couldn't
prevent.
Now., of course, no security expense is spared.
Three hundred state troopers have been called in.
Logan Airport is on high alert, proof that Sullivan
may have been wrong about one thing he said in his
letter to his Senator: "We don't have to wait for a
tragedy to occur to act."
An FAA spokesman confirms that Brian Sullivan
raised security concerns prior to the hijackings, but
the spokesman was not able to provide details
Sunday on how the agency followed up.
NEWS
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Boston Federal Aviation Administration Filings
Subject
The topic of the resource
litigation
airport security
Description
An account of the resource
These court filings provide evidence that the terrorists responsible for the September 11th attacks were observed assessing airport security prior to the events. For example, Mohammed Atta was spotted in May '01 taking still photographs, notes and video of the screening checkpoints at Logan. He was reported to law enforcement at the airport, but they failed to follow up.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Brian Sullivan, FAA Special Agent (Retired)
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Security Warnings Went Unheeded
Subject
The topic of the resource
Airports--Security measures--United States
Airline passenger security screening
Terrorism--United States--Prevention
Description
An account of the resource
A news article that discusses the many ways in which Brian Sullivan attempted to enact safer security measures at airports prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Sullivan, a former special agent for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), worked with a local television crew to expose gaps in security at Logan Airport in early 2001. Unfortunately, Sullivan's work did not provide the impetus to rework security measures, so in August 2001, he wrote a letter to Senator John Kerry to express his concerns. Kerry asked the Department of Transportation's Inspector General to investigate, but the FAA responded that they were continuing "to address security issues raised by the video presentation." Three weeks later, the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Chris Hansen
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
NBC News
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
September 16, 2001
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Brian Sullivan, FAA Special Agent (Retired)