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Student Charged in Southwest Case Left Items on Other Planes
Aired October 20, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, CNN correspondent Mike Brooks has a little background in airline security you could say. He was in charge of security at Atlanta Hartsfield. He joins us with insight on this case, what we might take away from this.
All right, first of all, you found out more information. These weren't the only two airplanes that this young man planted stuff in.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what he says. He told FBI investigators that he did on September 12 and September 14 take these prohibited items through checkpoints on the 12 at Raleigh/Durham Airport and on the 14th at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
Now there was an e-mail that was sent to the Transportation Security Administration that said that -- that was received on the -- he sent that e-mail on the 15th, that said there were six -- a total of six incidents that occurred between February 7 and September 14. Now they apparently did not take any kind of action, Kyra. And that's one of the questions, why it took so long for them to find these.
And in the e-mail he talks about these two incidents and so far only two sets of prohibited items have been found on board the aircraft. But in the e-mail, he put his name and his e-mail address on there, and he knew what was going to -- there do be consequences but he said he did it as an act of civil disobedience to test the TSA screening process in the airports.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about him in a minute. But where were these items hidden? Were they in an easy place to find? Did he really stuff them somewhere?
BROOKS: Sources are telling me he really did stuff them as you say in compartments in the rear lavatory of the two planes. They are not in areas the sources tell me that are normally checked by people doing a security sweep of these airplanes.
PHILLIPS: Why is that not part of the check?
BROOKS: Well, they apparently were behind -- one of them was underneath a sink behind a compartment and another one over the compartment behind the actual toilet stuffed back behind there. These are not areas because you would have to kind of take it apart. Being familiar having been with Delta Airlines, taking it apart is kind of difficult, so he probably spent some time in there. He also said he took some of these through the security screening on himself because he had reddish clay to simulate plastic explosive. On this flight in September, he took on two box cutters. The flight on the 14th, he took on three with the blades.
And he is going to be charged. They're going to charge him with a ten-year felony. It is going to be carrying a weapon on an aircraft. Now, in the statute it says that he would have access -- the individual would have access on the flight to these dangerous weapons and he would by putting them onboard...
PHILLIPS: So what does this tell us? Security has been increased, we have to -- I mean we have to take our shoes off. There's so many new, I guess -- put in place -- you know what I'm saying?
BROOKS: New precautions, new procedures.
PHILLIPS: There we go. Thank you.
BROOKS: Since TSA took over the screening on operations at most major airplanes, 8 million prohibited items have been seized -- 1,500 firearms and 50,000 box cutters. Since TSA took over.
PHILLIPS: Something's always going to slip through the cracks.
BROOKS: There may. Now since GAO -- GAO just released a report last month that said that the screeners are still letting too many things get by. Whether this will result in a rehash of security procedures, that remains to be seen.
PHILLIPS: I wonder if he was writing a paper for college. He may be in jail but he could get an A.
BROOKS: He goes to Guilford College in Greensboro. On October 3, there was an article written by someone of a different name talking about security at check points. Very ironic.
PHILLIPS: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you. Thanks for helping me spit it out.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired October 20, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, CNN correspondent Mike Brooks has a little background in airline security you could say. He was in charge of security at Atlanta Hartsfield. He joins us with insight on this case, what we might take away from this.
All right, first of all, you found out more information. These weren't the only two airplanes that this young man planted stuff in.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what he says. He told FBI investigators that he did on September 12 and September 14 take these prohibited items through checkpoints on the 12 at Raleigh/Durham Airport and on the 14th at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
Now there was an e-mail that was sent to the Transportation Security Administration that said that -- that was received on the -- he sent that e-mail on the 15th, that said there were six -- a total of six incidents that occurred between February 7 and September 14. Now they apparently did not take any kind of action, Kyra. And that's one of the questions, why it took so long for them to find these.
And in the e-mail he talks about these two incidents and so far only two sets of prohibited items have been found on board the aircraft. But in the e-mail, he put his name and his e-mail address on there, and he knew what was going to -- there do be consequences but he said he did it as an act of civil disobedience to test the TSA screening process in the airports.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about him in a minute. But where were these items hidden? Were they in an easy place to find? Did he really stuff them somewhere?
BROOKS: Sources are telling me he really did stuff them as you say in compartments in the rear lavatory of the two planes. They are not in areas the sources tell me that are normally checked by people doing a security sweep of these airplanes.
PHILLIPS: Why is that not part of the check?
BROOKS: Well, they apparently were behind -- one of them was underneath a sink behind a compartment and another one over the compartment behind the actual toilet stuffed back behind there. These are not areas because you would have to kind of take it apart. Being familiar having been with Delta Airlines, taking it apart is kind of difficult, so he probably spent some time in there. He also said he took some of these through the security screening on himself because he had reddish clay to simulate plastic explosive. On this flight in September, he took on two box cutters. The flight on the 14th, he took on three with the blades.
And he is going to be charged. They're going to charge him with a ten-year felony. It is going to be carrying a weapon on an aircraft. Now, in the statute it says that he would have access -- the individual would have access on the flight to these dangerous weapons and he would by putting them onboard...
PHILLIPS: So what does this tell us? Security has been increased, we have to -- I mean we have to take our shoes off. There's so many new, I guess -- put in place -- you know what I'm saying?
BROOKS: New precautions, new procedures.
PHILLIPS: There we go. Thank you.
BROOKS: Since TSA took over the screening on operations at most major airplanes, 8 million prohibited items have been seized -- 1,500 firearms and 50,000 box cutters. Since TSA took over.
PHILLIPS: Something's always going to slip through the cracks.
BROOKS: There may. Now since GAO -- GAO just released a report last month that said that the screeners are still letting too many things get by. Whether this will result in a rehash of security procedures, that remains to be seen.
PHILLIPS: I wonder if he was writing a paper for college. He may be in jail but he could get an A.
BROOKS: He goes to Guilford College in Greensboro. On October 3, there was an article written by someone of a different name talking about security at check points. Very ironic.
PHILLIPS: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you. Thanks for helping me spit it out.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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