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CNN Saturday Morning News
Airline Insecurity: U.S. Commerical Fleet Being Searched
Aired October 18, 2003 - 08:01 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.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest airline scare. Federal authorities say they have a suspect in a security breach on two Southwest Airline jets. National security correspondent Mike Brooks joins with us the latest -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, yesterday the FBI and Transportation Security Administration officials say that they were able to find a 20-year-old North Carolina student that actually put these devices onto Southwest Airline planes. These planes, one was headed from Orlando to New Orleans, the other one from Austin, Texas, to Houston.
Now, these were two -- these were put into lavatories in plastic bags. It -- there was a suntan lotion bottle containing bleach, some Play-Do (ph)-like material, and also box cutters. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was tracked down due in part to an e-mail that was sent to the TSA last month, in which he mentioned items that were linked to the airline scare.
A Bush administration official added that the e-mails detailed locations, times, and places where the contraband was put on board the airplanes.
Now, they say that there is no terrorist threat at all involved in this, that it is an isolated incident. We don't know exactly what this person will be charged with. A FBI spokesperson yesterday said that they -- there could be a hearing on Monday in federal court in Baltimore. We're trying to find out exactly what charges, if any, will be placed by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office there.
MALVEAUX: Very serious matter.
BROOKS: Very serious matter. And apparently he was trying to test this TSA security checkpoints. He said this in the e-mail. And that's how they were able to track him down, because he basically left a trail.
So how long ago did he put these in there? We don't know. A source told me yesterday that these items were placed in the lavatory in areas that are not normally searched during an airport or an airline security sweep of the plane. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because you have ground security personnel for each airline to do this before the flights. These were in areas that would not normally have been searched.
MALVEAUX: Do we know why he did this? Do we have any idea of motive?
BROOKS: It looks like right now motive. One source told me he said he was trying to help. So it looks like he was actually trying to test the security system. But, in fact, he was violating the law.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest airline scare. Federal authorities say they have a suspect in a security breach on two Southwest Airline jets. >
Aired October 18, 2003 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest airline scare. Federal authorities say they have a suspect in a security breach on two Southwest Airline jets. National security correspondent Mike Brooks joins with us the latest -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, yesterday the FBI and Transportation Security Administration officials say that they were able to find a 20-year-old North Carolina student that actually put these devices onto Southwest Airline planes. These planes, one was headed from Orlando to New Orleans, the other one from Austin, Texas, to Houston.
Now, these were two -- these were put into lavatories in plastic bags. It -- there was a suntan lotion bottle containing bleach, some Play-Do (ph)-like material, and also box cutters. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was tracked down due in part to an e-mail that was sent to the TSA last month, in which he mentioned items that were linked to the airline scare.
A Bush administration official added that the e-mails detailed locations, times, and places where the contraband was put on board the airplanes.
Now, they say that there is no terrorist threat at all involved in this, that it is an isolated incident. We don't know exactly what this person will be charged with. A FBI spokesperson yesterday said that they -- there could be a hearing on Monday in federal court in Baltimore. We're trying to find out exactly what charges, if any, will be placed by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office there.
MALVEAUX: Very serious matter.
BROOKS: Very serious matter. And apparently he was trying to test this TSA security checkpoints. He said this in the e-mail. And that's how they were able to track him down, because he basically left a trail.
So how long ago did he put these in there? We don't know. A source told me yesterday that these items were placed in the lavatory in areas that are not normally searched during an airport or an airline security sweep of the plane. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because you have ground security personnel for each airline to do this before the flights. These were in areas that would not normally have been searched.
MALVEAUX: Do we know why he did this? Do we have any idea of motive?
BROOKS: It looks like right now motive. One source told me he said he was trying to help. So it looks like he was actually trying to test the security system. But, in fact, he was violating the law.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest airline scare. Federal authorities say they have a suspect in a security breach on two Southwest Airline jets. >
