DillMan

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapc...ex.html?hpt=T2

Wow. So while I'm tossing my deadly shampoo, someone walks up to a 777 bound for NRT, climbs in the nose gear, and hangs out until the flight takes off. Good going TSA!!

I remember a couple similar examples of people trying to evade immigration rules by doing the exact same thing, however, to the best of my knowledge all those flights originated OUTSIDE the US where the TSA was not directly responsible for securing the sterile area.

LessO2

Most passengers can't, or don't see things down on the tarmac, hence the security theater doesn't have "tarmac" on the playbill.

FriendlySkies

I thought most airports had security driving around the tarmac looking for suspicious activity..

N231LA

Oh you silly, silly Wabbit....everyone knows that tewowists are disguised as 80 yr. old grandmas in wheel chairs carrying large toothpaste tubes...why would anyone waste their time down on the tarmac?

bocastephen

It's a sad loss, but the person could have climbed in there with a stack of explosives and taken out the nose gear mechanics completely - which would have certainly terrorized the passengers for the remainder of the flight as they fretted over what would most certainly end up as a crash landing.

Nice to know people are paying attention to who is running around the ramp.

bbc1969

But your scenario couldn't really happen. As many people here on FT postulate, it is a very very slim chance of anyone really wanting to do anything bad to an airline or airliner.

LessO2

True, but the TSA has this fetish with the risk avoidance model for passengers. Events like this are newsworthy when you have that strategy in place.

bocastephen

When did I ever say that??

I said frequently that threats from the ground, cargo and through-the-fence operations posed a far greater threat to aviation than someone at the passenger checkpoint - and the TSA was ignoring/mishandling these other weaknesses at our peril.

Of course I didn't expect the US government to personally escort a terrorist on a flight so he could blow up his underpants and scare everyone into a tizzy again - so go figure.

heineken42

How good could security be?
A man who is not intelligent enough the realize that you will freeze to death at 30k feet or put in the time and effort to see if its possible to stow away in landing gear can make it onto the runway and into a plane.

bbc1969

Just joking.... But you are entirely correct about ground/cargo/thru the fence operations being a concern.

TSA has a limited presence on the tarmac near hard stands and jetway areas. Not that they don't go there, but their presence is not what it is at the checkpoint and other inside the terminal areas.

Maybe that is a good thing, as TSA (especially the screening folks) get hammered for "mission creep" very often.

The tarmac and perimeter are the responsibility of the Airport Police in most cases. Airline personnel also hold responsibility for monitoring the security of their aircraft. Responsibility for missing someone in the nosewheel bay goes right on up to the pilot performing the walkaround inspection (if done before the person climbed in there).

Dianne47

When it comes to airline safety and security, this is one of the more frightening stories. I'm surprised there aren't more posts on this thread. Obviously, there is NO security on the tarmac at JFK. Appalling.

alanR

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...ta-flight.html

halls120

Almost three years ago, an interagency working group chartered by NSC to study aviation security delivered the first draft of their report. It concluded that the greatest danger to aviation was "under the wing" security. Because this report didn't meet the needs of Kip Hawley and Chairman Chertoff, the report was "withdrawn for further development" and never reissued. Seems as if the Kipster and his Chairman couldn't stand having a report that exposed the fallacy of their Kabuki theater approach, and made sure the report was never released.

avsfan733

Ron already showed us how dangerous an aircraft carrier flight deck is at night, I can only imagine the TSA being on the tarmac is nearly the same...

Their mission reep is mission creep to things like airline revenue enforcement, airport vendor revenue enforcement, and local law enforcement. Doing their actual job and securing things like the tarmac and airport edges isn't mission creep, its air travel security as well as common sense.

SDF_Traveler

The body found at NRT was likely of a Nigerian man who climbed into the wheel well in LOS.

The 777 equipment used on this flight previously flew:

LOS-ATL
ATL-JFK

Then finally flew JFK-NRT where the body was found.