Report: Screeners can’t find explosives

USA Today last week said it got its hands on a classified government report that makes you wonder if those billions of dollars being spent on airport security are being wasted. According to the newspaper, the odds of someone getting onto an airplane with explosives on their person on in their carry-on were better than even at two of the country’s busiest airports. Undercover operatives from the Transportation Security Administration tested the system by hiding simulated explosives or bomb parts under their clothes or in their hand luggage, and according to the USA Today account, they were able to get through security undetected 75 percent of the time at Los Angeles International and 60 percent of the time at Chicago O’Hare. At San Francisco International, where security is handled by a private contractor instead of TSA, the success rate for sneaking explosives past the checkpoints was only 20 percent. After the story appeared, TSA confirmed the facts, but said the tests were conducted in 2006, and based on the poor results, it has implemented new procedures and improved screener training.