TSA: Screening for box cutter 'contrary to standard operating procedure.' Suspect in court

The man arrested in Atlanta after authorities say he was found to have a box cutter on board a plane that departed from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on Friday evening has made his first court appearance.

William Allen Liebisch was in court Monday, a spokesperson for the FBI's Atlanta field office said in an email.

The Frontier Airlines flight departing from Cincinnati was forced to make an emergency landing in Atlanta after the box cutter was discovered.

The flight, Frontier Airlines Flight 1761, was headed from Cincinnati to Tampa, Florida, before being diverted to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to a release from the airline. The Transportation Security Administration said there was a procedural failure as Liebisch was screened.

The flight landed safely in Atlanta and Liebisch was taken into custody by law enforcement. Atlanta police officers assisted federal authorities in making the arrest, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department confirmed.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia declined to comment on Liebisch’s charges.

TSA: Officers didn't follow procedure, find other box cutter during search

Transportation Security Administration officers at CVG didn't follow procedure when they found a box cutter among Liebisch's possessions and a screening of his property failed to discover that a second box cutter was stored away in a backpack, the administration said in a statement.

Liebisch approached the TSA checkpoint around 5:30 p.m. Friday and his possessions were screened using CT technology, which creates a 3-D image that can be rotated 360 degrees for a thorough analysis, according to the statement.

A review of the incident found the image review capabilities of the CT equipment "were not fully used," the statement reads, adding the box cutters weren't identified by the CT operator.

Liebisch's property was picked out for further search and that's when one of the box cutters was discovered, the statement said. Agents removed the visible blades from the box cutter and handed it back to Liebisch.

"This is contrary to standard operating procedure which requires these items to be placed in checked bags or voluntarily abandoned," TSA's statement reads. "The backpack containing the other box cutter, and the remainder of the traveler’s property, was screened for explosives, but the box cutter was not discovered."

The statement said the TSA officers involved in Liebisch's screening have been placed in "a training status for remediation on CT image review and physical search procedures."

In response to the incident, the administration is conducting shift briefs for all CVG and Kentucky employees, as well as for all screening employees nationwide, with reminders on the disposal of box cutters and other prohibited items discovered during a search.

Refresher training on CT image review is also being scheduled statewide, according to the administration's statement.

'They're going to make mistakes'

Sheldon Jacobson, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who's worked in aviation security since the '90s, said it's not uncommon for items such as box cutters to occasionally slip through airport security.

"This particular incident is just emblematic of the fact that stuff gets through," he said. "That is the reality. The TSA will not admit that, but it is."

TSA uses many layers of security to ensure safe air travel, with one of the most visible layers being screening at airport checkpoints, Jacobson said, adding that even though some prohibited items may get through the screening process, traveling by plane is generally safe.

While the TSA relies on new technology to screen passengers, human error is inevitable, Jacobson said. "The TSA officers are human beings and they're going to make mistakes," he said.

Jacobson says the administration needs to expand the concepts in its PreCheck program, which provides travelers an expedited security screening at airports.

Once in the program, travelers provide their fingerprints, pay a nonrefundable fee and submit to a background check. Travelers with PreCheck do not need to remove their shoes, belts, light jackets or laptops from their bags when going through the security line.

Jacobson said background checks add another layer of screening that identifies whether a person might pose a threat to the safety of other passengers.

"It's the people not the stuff that really is the danger," he said. "Ultimately, it's their intent that's the problem."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Feds: Man arrested after box cutter found on plane; TSA cites mishaps