Insider Threats to Aviation Security: Airline and Airport Perspectives - Hijacking, Drug and Weapon Smuggling, Human Trafficking, Terrorism, TSA Screening and Employee Vetting and Access Control

This unique report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This House hearing was focused on examining the risk that insider threats pose to America's aviation system. When considering threats facing America's aviation sector, it is critical that we consider the security threats emanating from inside the sector itself. Insider threats can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, including drug and weapon smuggling, human trafficking, terror plots, and others. For example, in 2013, Terry Loewen, an avionics technician at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, was arrested by the FBI for plotting a suicide attack using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. Loewen intended to use his airport credentials to gain access to the tarmac and detonate the truck near aircraft and the passenger terminal during peak holiday travel to maximize casualties. In 2014, Eugene Harvey, a baggage handler at Hartsfield-Jack-son International Airport, smuggled 153 firearms, including AK-47 assault weapons, on 17 flights between Atlanta and New York. Harvey was able to bring the guns into the sterile area of the airport using a secure identification display area, or SIDA badge, because he was not subjected to physical security screening. Additionally, in May 2018, 10 airline employees at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport were indicted as part of an FBI undercover operation. The employees believed they were smuggling methamphetamines. One of the employees who was indicted said he would be able to smuggle guns as well, and another told undercover agents he would be willing to smuggle explosives for the right price. That is truly frightening.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Over the past few years, progress has certainly been made to address these gaps, especially with respect to pre-employment vetting and screening of aviation workers before entering the secure area of the airport.
However, the fact that these insider threats continue to manifest would seem to indicate that the current system has not proven to be a sufficient deterrent for employees with malicious intent.