Security Breach at Edmonton Airport

[The_Falcon]

Surprised no one else has posted about this, since there have been numerous stories about it.  Basically, for those who don't know, security screeners in Edmonton took a live pipe bomb off a person, tried giving it back to them (cause they didn't know it was a pipe bomb), allowed the person to board their flight, and then 4 DAYS later the RCMP was notified.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/17/airport-security-what-a-joke

If the issue wasn’t so serious, it would read like a Monty Python script on airport security.

Last Sept. 20, Skylar Murphy, then 18, passed through Edmonton airport security on his way to boarding a flight to Mexico, where he was going on vacation with his family.

A functional pipe bomb was discovered in his carry-on bag, which he later told authorities he had built with a friend to blow up a shed for fun, using gun powder stolen from bullets belonging to his mom’s fiance, an Alberta sheriff.

Incredibly, Murphy, who said he brought the pipe bomb to the airport by accident and had no intention of harming anyone, was allowed to board the plane.

At one point, according to the CBC, a security screener tried to return the pipe bomb to him after it was discovered by X-ray, but Murphy refused to take it back.

Inexplicably, RCMP officers at the airport weren’t alerted to the incident until four days after Murphy left for Mexico.

It was only after he returned to Edmonton on Sept. 27 that he was arrested by RCMP officers, backed by a SWAT team and bomb-sniffing dogs.

On Dec. 5, Murphy was given a tongue-lashing and a one-year suspended sentence by a judge, along with a one-year prohibition on possessing explosives, ammunition or firearms, after he pleaded guilty to being in possession of an explosive device. He was fined $100 and ordered to donate $500 to a hospital burn unit.

While, as the judge noted, he was reckless and irresponsible to construct the pipe bomb, there was no evidence he intended to blow up the plane or use the bomb in Mexico.

The real issue is how this fiasco - which could easily have led to tragedy in different circumstances - could possibly happen in a post-9/11 world of global terrorism?

Stating the painfully obvious, Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt told CBC news the security lapse was “unacceptable” and she would follow up with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) about how its security could be so inept.

She’d better or the only threat terrorists are likely to face from security at Canadian airports, is the risk of dying of laughter.

What people don't realize is unlike our Southern Neighbours, CATSA screeners are contracted out to third party security (ie the lowest bidder).  If I were in charge many heads would roll, and Garda (the company CATSA hired) would lose their contract.  There are NO EXCUSES for this lapse, none.

 

[dale622]

HA HA HA HA! It may be a lapse in security but it's still pretty funny. Heaven forbid I take nail clippers and more than 50ml of shampoo on my carry on. That is taken away on sight. However they find a pipe bomb and try to give it back! HA HA HA HA!

I have accidentally taken "bad" items through Edmonton airport as well. Made it through to Yellowknife with a full naptha bottle for my MSR stove in my pack and no one said boo. However if they actually swab my bag for chemicals or explosives it comes up with a cocktail of residue from past exercises. I then spend 10 min explaining what I do.

 

[The_Falcon]

HA HA HA HA! It may be a lapse in security but it's still pretty funny. Heaven forbid I take nail clippers and more than 50ml of shampoo on my carry on. That is taken away on sight. However they find a pipe bomb and try to give it back! HA HA HA HA!

I have accidentally taken "bad" items through Edmonton airport as well. Made it through to Yellowknife with a full naptha bottle for my MSR stove in my pack and no one said boo. However if they actually swab my bag for chemicals or explosives it comes up with a cocktail of residue from past exercises. I then spend 10 min explaining what I do.

I don't think it's funny at all.  Had the person in question, taken the device with them on the plane and it went off, either deliberately or accidently it would have killed hundreds of people.  And it also shows despite the millions spent on upgrading security, and the hassle that people go through when travelling, that the people "protecting" us are incompetent retards. No this is is not funny at all.  The Transport Minister and Minister of Safety need to get their s**t together and severly discipline those whose job it is to not let this happen.  I hope that "guard" and their immediate supervisors are getting canned if not already done so, and GARDA got heavily fined.

 

[jollyjacktar]

I'm more pissed off that the parties involved weren't fired for the incompetent bastards they were.  Not to mention the Transport Canada inspectors that work there too.  Were they sleeping on the job?  Those that work the airport l moonlight at are always testing the security.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

It's embarrassing but ever so Canadian at the same time.  Generally I find us to be very complacent when it comes to security and DND is no better in this regard.