Undercover agent slips through TSA naked body scanner multiple times with handgun

Monday, February 28, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: TSA, naked body scanners, health news

(NaturalNews) The "enhanced" screening procedures now used by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the nation's airports has once again been demonstrated as a total failure, this time at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). According to a high-ranking, inside source at TSA, an undercover agent was successfully able to smuggle a handgun through the naked body scanner -- and she did so not only once, but several times.

The TSA agent who performed the covert test says that none of the TSA agents that performed her screenings were at all disciplined for their multiple non-observances of her hidden weaponry. All agents involved in the incident continue to operate the screening machines just as they did prior to the test, she said.

When asked by NBC DFW about the incident, TSA offered a stock response that included the statement, "[f]or security reasons, we do not publicize or comment on the results of covert tests," adding that the naked body scanners are an "effective tool to detect both metallic and nonmetallic items hidden on passengers."

"In this case, where they had a test, and it was just a dismal failure ... you [sic] got a problem," said Larry Wansley, former head of security at American Airlines. "This was only a test, but it's critically important that (TSA) do something, because if that person failed in the real environment, then you have a problem."

The incident is not the first to show both the failure of TSA agents and their new screening devices. Late last year, TSA failed to identify a loaded pistol in a passenger's briefcase, say reports. The man did not even realize he had the .40 caliber Glock with him, and allegedly made it through TSA and onto the airport without obstruction (http://gizmodo.com/#!5714865/the-tsa-let-a-l...).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Ag...