A 15-year-old boy didn’t have to sneak past any sort of security or use a bogus ticket to board a flight to Hawaii, he just hopped the fence and climbed inside the plane.
The California teen, who survived a 5.5-hour flight from San Jose, Calif. to Hawaii, was lucky to survive the sub-zero transit in the wheel well of a 767.
READ MORE: How did the teen stowaway survive in plane’s wheel well?
We know why he did it – he said he had a fight with his parents. But the bigger question is how could it happen?
The Mineta San Jose International Airport said its security “exceeds federal requirements,” according to the Wall Street Journal. But, a San Jose Airport spokesperson said, nothing is foolproof.
“No security program is 100 percent,” spokesperson Rosemary Barnes told the San Jose Mercury. “We’re continuing to review video to determine where in fact he was able to scale the section of fence line, how he was able to proceed onto a ramp and get himself into the wheel well of that aircraft.”
Perimeter not always monitored
Despite there being cameras monitoring the perimeter of the airport, which caught the boy climbing the fence, he still managed to cross the tarmac and climb into the wheel well.
“There’s no way to guarantee security, even if you had one person per video screen,” airport security expert Richard Bloom told The Associated Press.
He said not everything that pops up on monitors or sets off motion sensors stands out.
“… Sometimes the actual results are quite underwhelming when it gets to the real world, where people are fatigued, people are preoccupied,” said Bloom, who works at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.
Monday’s incident showed airport perimeters are not as well-protected as the airport facilities themselves, security consultant Isaac Yeffet said.
“Shame on us for doing such a terrible job,” said Yeffet, a former head of security for Israeli airline El Al. “Perimeters are not well protected.”
As it turns out, oversight and upkeep of fences have been an issue in the U.S. for awhile.
Fences not looked after
Another boy was not as lucky as the Santa Clara teen involved in Monday’s incident.
In 2010, a 16-year-old fell out of the wheel well of a plane headed to Boston’s Logan International Airport from Charlotte, N.C.
Investigators believed he too breached the perimeter fence of Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport and climbed into the wheel well of the plane, unnoticed by surveillance or security personnel.
None of the federal bodies that oversee airport security – the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) – have anything to do with monitoring the grounds of the airport.
The TSA may set standards for perimeter security, but it’s up to the airport and local authorities to monitor it.
A 2011 U.S. House Subcommittee report looked into lapses at some of the major U.S. airports, noting security lapses on the grounds of New York’s John F. Kennedy and Dallas Love Field airports.
Even with a $100-million security upgrade, a 31-year-old man in 2012 was able to scale the perimeter fence at JFK – outfitted with an intrusion detection system – and crossed two runways before making his way into one of the terminals. He went unnoticed until he approached a Delta Airlines worker.
The perimeter fence at Dallas Love Field “had been breached or damaged nearly 20 times in a five-year period.” According to the report, there was also little protocol in place to deal with breaches.
During a 2010 incident, in which a pickup truck drove through the fence and onto the tarmac, pilots asked the control tower if they could move, but they were told to “hold position.”
With files from The Associated Press
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