Handgun handed off at airport, gets on US plane

[Furloughd4now]

I really don't mean to be flippant, but are you seriously unaware that airline employees (who work at a particular airport) never go through screening to get into the sterile area? There are doors that bypass screening and are accessed with their airport ID.

Only aircrews are routinely screened, because they cannot be trusted to access the sterile area otherwise. Of course, the pilots then get behind the controls of the very airplane they are not trusted to access and given ultimate determination of the operation of that airplane full of passengers.

You are not being flippant because it is the truth, how ironic huh?

Yes, its that "Blessed" SIDA Badge. Minimum wage airport employees get them and then can bypass security (in PHL its downstairs).

In LGA its the same thing. I actually saw a delivery boy deliver breakfast to an agent via the secure door. He delivered food in a brown bag. How do we know if it even WAS food? I reported it but never heard or saw anything. All those working on the ground just don't seem to give a hoot.

My BIG ? of the day is .... IS SOMETHING BEING DONE TO PREVENT THINGS LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?????????

 

[phlagent]

It says he picked the roommate's bag at the counter..Now he could of returned back at the counter and go through the proper check in procedure to check a gun as baggage. Employee
has been working to US for 4 years so he should know the procedure to check a gun. The roommate's living together I'm sure by the time the friend found out he was moving to PHX
and he was trying to pack his items, I'm sure at some point in time he would of asked the employee how he can transport his belongings to PHX. My feelings they knew what they were
doing. Guilty!! from the actions of both roommates the transaction was premeditated .
to many holes.


Laguzzi disputed FBI accounts that the men planned the switch, and instead said her client picked up his friend's bag in the haste of their arrival at the airport that morning and agreed to switch it back at the gate.

According to his lawyer, Carina Laguzzi, Milledge never went through a security screening from the time he picked up the roommate's laptop bag at the check-in counter -- just inside the airport -- until the men switched bags at the gate.

 

[Awa Contract]

For what this will do eventually to the rest of us as far as security changes down the road, only time will tell. But personally I hope they throw the book at them.

 

[Furloughd4now]

It says he picked the roommate's bag at the counter..

Laguzzi disputed FBI accounts that the men planned the switch, and instead said her client picked up his friend's bag in the haste of their arrival at the airport that morning and agreed to switch it back at the gate.

And if you believe this I've got a couple of Bridges in Brooklyn for sale h34r:

 

[ussnark]

And if you believe this I've got a couple of Bridges in Brooklyn for sale h34r:

Not to reply to you directly but using you as a convenient placeholder,

has anything been said about the "passenger" who blew the whistle? What is so questionable about two people exchanging bags as no weapon was sighted? Were the bags similar? Do passengers routinely turn in "suspicious" events? How many per day?

This sounds a little too "convenient" to me, almost like a set up. Certainly I don't have details, but it seems the two articles leave out key points or flash the "nothing going on here, move along" sign, especially when they almost make excuses for the passenger to be "suspicious".

Either the incident is a marvelous and coincidental chain of events or there is something else going on.

 

[Awa Contract]

Did you miss the point that they both confessed and pled guilty?? Hats off to the alert passenger, they had no way of knowing what was going on, but the good sense to report it and let someone else make the call if it needed to be investigated further. As it turned out it did.

 

[ussnark]

Did you miss the point that they both confessed and pled guilty?? Hats off to the alert passenger, they had no way of knowing what was going on, but the good sense to report it and let someone else make the call if it needed to be investigated further. As it turned out it did.

No, I did not miss that but I think a few here missed a very important point casually omitted from the articles.

Alert passenger? How did the passenger know the bag did not transit security? If a person dressed as an agent came up to a person not in costume and gave them a bag, would you automatically think that is suspicious? What if a flight attendant gave me (a civilian) a bag, would we be turned in? What if an agent came up to you (dressed in civies) and handed you a bag (you left at security or the customer service counter but I would not know that), would I think that was suspicious?

What are the "new rules" in this seemingly ugly society that you seem comfortable with?

 

[phlagent]

Uss Nark. How many times have you read about corruption in this country, Example
police officer, and the most recent one Fumo. It would really naive of you not to think otherwise
when you see 2 individuals exchanging bags on a flight that you would be traveling on and not bring it to someone's attention. It wasn't for people like the heads up passenger on that flight
all the wrong doing that goes on with corrupt police officers and politicians would not be brought to justice. That is the problem with some folks in this country they have tunnel vision.
Folks shouls start blwong more whistles on the corrution that goes on in this country. And maybe
this country would not have so much probelms.

 

[ussnark]

Uss Nark. How many times have you read about corruption in this country, Example
police officer, and the most recent one Fumo. It would really naive of you not to think otherwise
when you see 2 individuals exchanging bags on a flight that you would be traveling on and not bring it to someone's attention. It wasn't for people like the heads up passenger on that flight
all the wrong doing that goes on with corrupt police officers and politicians would not be brought to justice. That is the problem with some folks in this country they have tunnel vision.
Folks shouls start blwong more whistles on the corrution that goes on in this country. And maybe
this country would not have so much probelms.

Totally agree. I am in full and total support of whistleblowers. Corruption begins with authority.

However, I'd still like to know, assuming the passenger was not prompted nor part of a scam, how they determined that the bag swap was bogus. How did the "pax" know the bag had not transited security? (Likely did not) Did they see the "agent" take the bag through the employee entrance? (Likely not) Did they see the civie "not" take the bag through security? (Likely not)

Couple that with the relatively infrequent blown whistles at airports, think about it and I think you might see my discomfort with the event. Either completely coincidental (with extremely low odds of occurrence) or a set up.

Maybe nothing but it seems there is a news item just lurking in that entire episode. "They" want you to take away a "lesson" and not to look too closely at the entire situation. The poor reporting certainly has not given me a "warm and fuzzy" and likely biased me to question what is going on.

 

[FA Mikey]

However, I'd still like to know, assuming the passenger was not prompted nor part of a scam, how they determined that the bag swap was bogus. How did the "pax" know the bag had not transited security? (Likely did not) Did they see the "agent" take the bag through the employee entrance? (Likely not) Did they see the civie "not" take the bag through security? (Likely not)

None of the articles I have seen say exactly how, or where, they all say something to the sort of "An eagle-eyed passenger spotted another passenger handing a bag directly to an airline employee — skipping airport security". I think we assumed it happened at the gate, although Now I assume it happened some where else. Hard to say what directed the attention to the people in question. Whether their behavior was suspicious enough to warrant a second or longer look at what was happening, perhaps the person was a Police officer, military person or someone who's job requires them to always be observing people or maybe it was Gladys Kravitz's granddaughter on her way to the Islands.

 

[ussnark]

None of the articles I have seen say exactly how, or where, they all say something to the sort of "An eagle-eyed passenger spotted another passenger handing a bag directly to an airline employee — skipping airport security". I think we assumed it happened at the gate, although Now I assume it happened some where else.

I think one article said the observation was made while waiting to board, hence the idea that it might have been at the gate.

Unless there is new info, I will move forward on this, just assuming no one seems to care about all the holes in the story. A sort of authority speaks, "move along, nothing to see here", and, utilizing no critical thought process, we do. Sigh.

 

[N965VJ]

On the TSA “Week At A Glanceâ€￾ stats (AKA the Body Count) for that week there was no mention of this incident. Agency black eyes don’t count!