Passenger carries firearm through TSA screening; is security breach due to U.S. shutdown?

Monday, January 14, 2019

As per Transportation Security Administration (TSA) a passenger boarded flight with a firearm from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and flew to Tokyo Narita International Airport on Jan. 3, 2019.

As per the release, “TSA has determined standard procedures were not followed and a passenger did in fact pass through a standard screening TSA checkpoint with a firearm at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on the morning of January 3,”

However, the TSA dismissed suggestions that the government shutdown contributed to the security lapse.  They said that there was a normal amount of staffers working that day. The TSA noted that it will ‘hold those responsible appropriately accountable.’

TSA added that the national unscheduled absence rate of TSA staff on Thursday, January 3, 2019, was 4.8 per cent as compared to 6.3 per cent last year, Thursday, January 4, 2018. This shows that the national call out rate was higher a year ago than this year around that date. TSA screeners have struggled to detect weapons even in the absence of a shutdown.

About 51,000 TSA agents are among the 800,000 government employees working without pay or on furlough during the shutdown.

Michael Bilello, TSA assistant administrator for public affairs said: “Security standards will NOT and have NOT been compromised.”

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