Mariner1 - what you describe is very reasonable and I believe fully compliant. The job of security screening is to detect threats to the safety of the aircraft. It is not there to stop smuggling. But there was a loophole. A big one. The crew! For sure they won't be carrying pointy sticks, vicious yoghurts or WMDs but with few exceptions, nobody ever checks to make sure that the correct personnel (face/name/time/pass details) pass by the lovely people at security. A la 9/11, the aircraft becomes the weapon and the system allows it to happen.