Airlines ordered to inspect all planes

Airlines have been ordered to inspect all of their planes in the wake of the discovery of box cutters and other items that were snuck aboard two Southwest Airlines planes.

The inspections were prompted by the discovery of bags containing box cutters, Play-Doh and a small amount of bleach in suntan lotion bottles in the bathrooms aboard two Southwest Airlines flights Thursday night, federal law enforcement officials told NBC News on condition of anonymity.

The cases, which were discovered by Southwest employees doing routine maintenance, also included notes that said that while federal security screeners were doing a good job, they needed to improve. “Look what I was able to get through” was how officials who spoke to NBC News characterized the nature of the notes.

The notes said the packages were stashed on the planes in August. NBC News has learned that the Transportation Security Administration received an e-mail in September bragging about carrying similar packages onto airplanes.

This is one of those stories that seems to have bad news and worse news. I'm just not sure which part is the "worse" - that someone was able to sneak these items on the planes in the first place, or that even after they were tipped off to the items presence in September, it still took them another month to find them.

Posted by thorswitch at October 17, 2003 06:24 PM | TrackBack