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American Morning
College Student Believed to be Responsible for Breach of Airline Security
Aired October 20, 2003 - 07:35 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A college student aged 20 believed to be responsible for a breach of airline security today the focus of a hearing in Baltimore. Box cutters, bleach and modeling clay were found Thursday on two Southwest Airlines planes, along with notes detailing how easy it was to defeat airport security. The student is 20-year-old Nathaniel Heatwole of Gilford College in North Carolina. He's not in custody, though, and it's not clear whether or not charges will be filed.
With us now to talk about this, Charles Slepian, a security consultant and CEO of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center.
Thanks for coming back here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHARLES SLEPIAN, SECURITY CONSULTANT, FORESEEABLE RISK ANALYSIS CENTER: Thanks for asking me.
HEMMER: If everything is true the way it played out right now, what was this 20-year-old trying to prove?
SLEPIAN: We have two very poor choices, either that a 20-year- old could defeat $11 billion worth of security, which is what we've spent so far at the airports; or the trusted worker program, which allows workers from airports, airlines and vendors to access aircraft without going through screening is a colossal failure.
HEMMER: How concerned should travelers be when they hear a story like this?
SLEPIAN: Extremely concerned, Bill. Extremely concerned because what we are doing inside of the airport itself is of no value if we're going to leave the back side of the airport open. Now, we don't know how he got these things on board the plane; if, in fact, he personally put them on the plane. But the fact still remains that somebody put them on the plane, which means that people are accessing our aircraft without being searched.
HEMMER: You said the back side. What do you mean by the back side?
SLEPIAN: The ramp side of the airport is that side...
HEMMER: Explain your point.
SLEPIAN: ... that side of the airport where you see the maintenance people, where you see the people who load baggage, where the cleaners are, where the vendors are. When you look out the window, you're looking at the ramp side of the airport. And nobody is supposed to be out there who isn't screened, I mean physically searched.
HEMMER: In this case, though, everything I've read indicates that he took them through the regular security route, which would not have been the back side then.
SLEPIAN: Well, then we have a colossal failure on the front side of the airport, where we've invested 11 billion bucks.
HEMMER: What should the government do to improve matters now? You watch this thing every day.
SLEPIAN: Well, now I think the first thing we need to do is accept the fact that what we have in place right now is not effective. We need to bring in security professionals. If this were a corporation, the heads of the corporation would have been fired a long time ago by the board of directors.
When asked about the open ramp side of the airport last week, Admiral Loy, testifying before Congress -- and I was there -- said we're not up to that yet. We're not up to that yet.
HEMMER: How logical is it to think that it could be a hundred percent fool safe?
SLEPIAN: It's not logical to expect it to be a hundred percent foolproof. But the fact of the matter is that you're not supposed to be able to walk through the screening station with box cutters, something that approximates a plastic explosive and a bleach substance. That is just negligence (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: In the short time we have left here, how vulnerable would you say the American domestic system is right now for the possibility of another terrorist hit?
SLEPIAN: I think any time the terrorists want to do it, they can.
HEMMER: We'll leave it at that.
A very daunting comment.
Charles Slepian, thanks.
We'll talk again.
SLEPIAN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Airline Security>
Aired October 20, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A college student aged 20 believed to be responsible for a breach of airline security today the focus of a hearing in Baltimore. Box cutters, bleach and modeling clay were found Thursday on two Southwest Airlines planes, along with notes detailing how easy it was to defeat airport security. The student is 20-year-old Nathaniel Heatwole of Gilford College in North Carolina. He's not in custody, though, and it's not clear whether or not charges will be filed.
With us now to talk about this, Charles Slepian, a security consultant and CEO of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center.
Thanks for coming back here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHARLES SLEPIAN, SECURITY CONSULTANT, FORESEEABLE RISK ANALYSIS CENTER: Thanks for asking me.
HEMMER: If everything is true the way it played out right now, what was this 20-year-old trying to prove?
SLEPIAN: We have two very poor choices, either that a 20-year- old could defeat $11 billion worth of security, which is what we've spent so far at the airports; or the trusted worker program, which allows workers from airports, airlines and vendors to access aircraft without going through screening is a colossal failure.
HEMMER: How concerned should travelers be when they hear a story like this?
SLEPIAN: Extremely concerned, Bill. Extremely concerned because what we are doing inside of the airport itself is of no value if we're going to leave the back side of the airport open. Now, we don't know how he got these things on board the plane; if, in fact, he personally put them on the plane. But the fact still remains that somebody put them on the plane, which means that people are accessing our aircraft without being searched.
HEMMER: You said the back side. What do you mean by the back side?
SLEPIAN: The ramp side of the airport is that side...
HEMMER: Explain your point.
SLEPIAN: ... that side of the airport where you see the maintenance people, where you see the people who load baggage, where the cleaners are, where the vendors are. When you look out the window, you're looking at the ramp side of the airport. And nobody is supposed to be out there who isn't screened, I mean physically searched.
HEMMER: In this case, though, everything I've read indicates that he took them through the regular security route, which would not have been the back side then.
SLEPIAN: Well, then we have a colossal failure on the front side of the airport, where we've invested 11 billion bucks.
HEMMER: What should the government do to improve matters now? You watch this thing every day.
SLEPIAN: Well, now I think the first thing we need to do is accept the fact that what we have in place right now is not effective. We need to bring in security professionals. If this were a corporation, the heads of the corporation would have been fired a long time ago by the board of directors.
When asked about the open ramp side of the airport last week, Admiral Loy, testifying before Congress -- and I was there -- said we're not up to that yet. We're not up to that yet.
HEMMER: How logical is it to think that it could be a hundred percent fool safe?
SLEPIAN: It's not logical to expect it to be a hundred percent foolproof. But the fact of the matter is that you're not supposed to be able to walk through the screening station with box cutters, something that approximates a plastic explosive and a bleach substance. That is just negligence (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: In the short time we have left here, how vulnerable would you say the American domestic system is right now for the possibility of another terrorist hit?
SLEPIAN: I think any time the terrorists want to do it, they can.
HEMMER: We'll leave it at that.
A very daunting comment.
Charles Slepian, thanks.
We'll talk again.
SLEPIAN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Airline Security>
