Portland jetport breaches point up security challenges

PORTLAND – On the heels of two publicized security breaches at the Portland International Jetport, local officials are saying foolproof security may be impossible under present conditions.

A reporter was able to bring a razor knife through security checks at the jetport over Labor Day weekend, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

And Saturday, a Polish man was arrested for allegedly carrying a switchblade as he attempted to board a flight in Portland. The knife went undetected during two earlier baggage searches.

After investigators ruled that the Sept. 11 hijackers used box cutters to commandeer four airplanes, knives and other potential weapons were banned from carry-on bags.

But on Wednesday, Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood questioned whether the ban will ever be completely effective.

“Is there ever going to be a time when you can say with 100 percent certainty that security won’t be breached?” he asked. “I don’t think so, because there’s a human factor.”

Portland has come under particular scrutiny because two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari, originally boarded flights at the Jetport.

The Daily News story described how two Portland security personnel searched a reporter’s laptop computer and purse extensively, even picking out a pack of matches that they said should be carried in a jacket pocket.

But the newspaper said the screeners failed to find a rubber-handled razor knife.

The newspaper reported that security workers at 10 other U.S. airports also did not find smuggled knives and other weapons.

Portland Transportation Director Jeff Monroe said he was concerned about the report.

“It’s a huge job, and it may be a challenge we may not be able to overcome,” he said. “The reality may be we have to start putting restrictions on carry-on baggage.”

Allowing only a small handbag would cut lines by speeding the passenger screening process and allowing more thorough searches, Monroe said.

Twenty years ago, airlines allowed very little carry-on baggage but bowed to pressure from business travelers and others who wanted to avoid waiting for checked baggage, Monroe said.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said the reported breaches are cause for concern. But they both believe the security system can be made effective and safe.

“It’s a difficult task and perhaps an impossible one to come up with a fail-safe system, but the ease with which these reporters were able to breach security at so many different airports suggests to me we have a long way to go,” Collins said.