Reporter Discovers Missing Badges, Cleaning Crews Performing Bomb Checks

Chicago television station WBBM-2 recently conducted an undercover investigation at O'Hare International Airport, and uncovered some rather alarming breaches in security. The news comes as some flight attendants have turned whistle blower after a handwritten bomb threat was found on a United Airlines flight out of ORD in October.

"I feel like the public needs to know how our planes are managed, how we deal with bomb threats," says United Airlines flight attendant Kathy Browne.

She said the flight crew was told the aircraft had been cleared by bomb-sniffing dogs prior to takeoff. She said she found out later that not only was that not the case, but it was the cleaning crew that performed the security check.

"We simply wanted to have that plane properly searched," she says.

The undercover reporter said he obtained the confidential security report written by the captain of that particular flight that said the flight crew was "in turmoil" and how "shocked" he was about how the threat was handled.

He wrote he was informed the plane had been cleared by bomb-sniffing dogs and, "Upon further investigation we found this to be untrue. The [flight attendants'] supervisor even stated we were being deliberately duped."

He further states the cleaning crew performed a check under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration.

It was also discovered the 47 employee access badges are missing and unaccounted for. The news report said their investigation had discovered a total of 3,807 such badges missing. These badges are used to gain entry to the airport. Airport employees enter through a back gate where they are not searched -- all they have to do is show an employee badge.

The most recent batch of missing badges belonged to employees of Mesa Airlines which operates flights for United Express.

Mesa flight attendant Marcia Pinkston wasn't surprised about the missing badges.

"I am surprised you didn't find more," she said "It's really scary just thinking that anyone can go into secure areas of O'Hare."

Pinkston says Mesa Airlines terminated her employment because she complained about such security issues. She wasn't asked to return her access badge for several months after she was fired.

"Just anybody can go in there," she said.

New York City's chief paramedic during the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Paul Maniscalco, is now a terrorism expert at George Washington University, according to the news report.

Mansicalco cites several recent incidents where employees posed the biggest threat to aircraft, not a terrorist -- like the two employees caught smuggling drugs and guns at Orlando International Airport in March of this year.

"You would think by 2007 we would have our arms around this issue," he said. "When your investigation indicated that we had cards missing, unaccountability for the cards…it was alarming."

CBS 2 says Mesa Airlines was fined $47,000 as a result of the report. The carrier says it was just a proposal and declined to comment further.

"There is no security," Pinkston said. "As long as you work there you can do whatever you want."

FMI: www.flychicago.com, www.united.com, www.mesa-air.com