TSA investigating security breach at Nashville airport
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A big question for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — how did a woman get through the initial security checkpoint without showing a ticket, a boarding pass or any form of identification at Nashville International Airport (BNA)?
Earlier this month, a woman reportedly hopped one of the security stanchions without being seen. She passed through the first layer of TSA security without showing her boarding pass or identification.
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According to TSA’s regional spokesperson, Mark Howell, once past the first layer of security, the woman blended back into the security line.
She passed her bags through security. She also passed through the security scanner.
TSA officials said there was nothing illegal or suspicious on her person or her bags, and she continued away from the security checkpoint without incident.
There are 17 lanes at BNA and it is rare that all 17 lanes are utilized.
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On Wednesday, Feb. 7, officials said the woman was able to find a blind spot in one of those unoccupied lanes where nobody is watching and pass through, thus avoiding the first layer of TSA security that requires identification and boarding pass information.
Oksana Willower, a traveler from Florida said, “That is pretty astonishing, to tell you the truth, which is the whole reason why you have TSA and the whole reason you have going through pre-check, things you definitely need to, and someone obviously failed at their job. You have to show your ID, you have to show your ticket, you have to be able to go in, so how did she manage to get through the line?”
Willower found it alarming that anyone can get through security without detection: “And that’s their job, that’s why they all got started, this whole terrorist thing got started with the whole governmental and other waste, and once they get involved, it becomes inefficient, and that was obviously inefficiency.”
News 2 has reached out to the airline and the FBI for more information on the woman and details of what happened.
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TSA sent the following statement:
TSA is reviewing the circumstances of this matter, but can confirm that the traveler in question was physically screened, along with their carry-on items, without incident at the Nashville International Airport security checkpoint on February 7th before boarding the flight. TSA and its airline partners are cooperating with the ongoing law enforcement investigation.
All air travelers are subject to a robust security system that employs multiple layers of security, both seen and unseen including thorough screening at checkpoints, unpredictable presence of explosive detection canine teams, reinforced cockpit doors on all aircraft, federal air marshals, armed pilots, and a vigilant traveling public. In combination, these layers provide robust aviation security.
Beyond the TSA security checkpoint, the boarding procedure at the terminal gate to enter the aircraft is monitored by the airline.
If a traveler encounters anything that looks out of the ordinary in a transportation environment, they are encouraged to report it. If you ‘see something, say something.’
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