TSA: Delta, Police Mishandled Security Procedures At MCO | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.13.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.14.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Sun, Nov 30, 2008

TSA: Delta, Police Mishandled Security Procedures At MCO

Orlando PD Captain Disputes Account Of Incident

A report on a security breach at Orlando International Airport released by the Transportation Security Administration accuses Delta and the Orlando Police Department of failing to follow TSA procedures.

As ANN reported, on March 5, 2007 two workers for Delta subsidiary Comair conspired to smuggle a duffel bag containing 14 guns and eight pounds of marijuana to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The pair used an employee entrance to skirt airport security.

The report says Orlando Police received a tip that an airport worker was aboard Delta Flight 933 "with a weapon." Zabdiel Santiago Balaguer, a Comair employee, was removed from the plane by police, and a Delta gate agent then cleared the plane to leave the gate.

Airport and TSA officials realized the other worker, Thomas Anthony Munoz, was aboard the flight but not until the plane was halfway to its destination. He was arrested when the plane landed in San Juan.

Police did not inform the TSA of the incident until shortly after Flight 933 took off, a violation of TSA procedure, the report says. Orlando police dispute that account, however, saying police notified the TSA before Flight 933 took off and that TSA personnel were at the gate when Balaguer emerged from the plane, USA Today said.

Orlando Police Capt. Jeff O'Dell said the tip that was received was for "contraband," not guns, and therefore was not considered a terrorist threat.

Douglas Laird, an aviation security consultant, said Delta was remiss in not notifying the TSA as soon as it was notified by Orlando police. "They never should have left the gate," he said, adding that the TSA would likely have emptied the plane, screened passengers for a second time and searched the cabin, USA Today reported.

TSA chief Kip Hawley said "Delta might have failed" to follow security procedures and criticized the Orlando police for "late notification to TSA." New procedures require airports to tell the TSA whenever police are called in, he said. Delta refused comment.

Thomas Anthony Munoz and Zabdiel Santiago Balaguer were convicted on weapons and drug charges, and are currently in prison.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.orlandoairports.net

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.17.24): Very High Frequency

Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.17.24)

Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: ANN Visits Wings Over The Rockies Exploration Of Flight

From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.16.24: PRA Runway, Wag-Aero Sold, Young Eagles

Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC