I remember similar stories in my Air Force 15 years ago. Because of a perceived threat of soviet origin, very tight security procedures had been enforced for years.
OK for the idea, but the result was so-called "AF commandos" always on the rampage, uneducated low-extraction guys being given the free opportunity to harass higher-ranking officers, fighter pilots with all their shining gear..... so they took this opportunity to extract a revenge from their low conditions, and life was miserable quite often.. .In case of any incident, it was always the fault of the pilot, not of the "commando" (as a dog biting a pilot coming back from his aircraft in the dark, after an exhausting night-flight)
So all those stories nowadays in the airlines remind me of my youth in the AF : obviously those gentlemen will go for aircrew first.
It seems that today in Heathrow, security was too busy screening aircrew...
Fly safe