Breach Shows Cargo Plane Security Flaws

Feb. 12, 2004 — -- There was a breach in airport security during the Super Bowl weekend when three Dominican stowaways arrived in the United States aboard a cargo plane, homeland security officials acknowledged today. The incident raises concerns that terrorists could use similar tactics to enter the country.

On Saturday, Jan. 31, the day before the big game, three Dominican nationals slipped past security at Santo Domingo's airport and stowed away aboard a U.S.-bound Boeing 727 cargo plane, officials said. U.S. officials believe one of the men had a forged airport security pass.

The men flew undetected for two hours to Miami in a 6-by-8-foot cargo container. The container was taken off the plane and shipped to a Miami warehouse. Warehouse employees who discovered the men and called police.

"If you can hop the fence or bypass the security gate and gain access to a cargo aircraft, that's a grave concern," said aviation analyst Doug Laird.

The men were illegal immigrants and were quickly deported home. But if not for the alert warehouse workers, they would have slipped away into the general population.

The fear is that terrorists could use the same tactics to gain entry into the country. This breach happened on Super Bowl weekend, when U.S. aviation was on heightened alert, canceling a number of international and domestic flights over concerns about terrorist hijackings.

Most Cargo Goes Unchecked

In many developing countries, resources for airport security are limited and corruption is often rampant.

The concern about air cargo is not confined to overseas, however. Most cargo is not checked.

The most recent breach came only four months after a man shipped himself in an air cargo container 1,600 miles across country from Newark, N.J., to Desoto, Texas.

"Many dangerous loopholes still remain untouched. Today these security gaps continue to present tempting targets for terrorists to use passenger and cargo airplanes to harm America," Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a news conference today.