Federal Investigators Probe TSA Operation

Federal investigators have descended upon Albany International Airport (NY), interviewing dozens of security workers in a probe into wide ranging reports of turmoil in the workplace.

The Albany Times-Union reports the Transportation Security Administration's Office of Internal Affairs and Program Review investigators are talking with airline executives, airport officials and even the TSA workers themselves. The paper reports they've been at it for a week.

They started just two weeks after the TSA's own ombudsmen met with current and former screeners, some of whom said they were forced to lie in statements that led to the firings of their co-workers.

"The biggest complaint, apparently, was the coercion factor," said David Erickson, a former Army major fired a year ago by the TSA. He was a security screener supervisor. Erickson heatedly denies what he cites as the agency's reasons for firing him: "misconduct" and scheduling errors.

Erickson was one of more than 25 screeners fired over a period of just two months. They were the subjects of what some call "heavy-handed" investigations in which TSA supervisors supposedly guaranteed they would be dismissed. The Times-Union reports the dismissals came after violations that authorities said include sexual harassment, misconduct, credit card fraud, drug abuse and lying on job applications.

But local TSA chief Paul Varville denied the allegations of cooked up job actions. Of the investigators, he told the paper, "They reviewed most of it while they were at the airport. They anticipate making their report within the next 30 days.... We expect a press release from TSA headquarters exonerating us."

Some of the fired workers say records were shredded as part of a cover-up. Varville says it isn't so. "Those are the delusions of former employees. There'd be no benefit to us in trying to dispose of that information."

There are other allegations at Albany as well, according to published reports. They include routinely unreported security violations, and the use of bomb-detection equipment beyond the manufacturer's recommended date.

The investigation comes as a new report suggests no major difference between airline-provided security and the TSA's own brand.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.albanyairport.com