PPRuNe Forums - Northwest crew breach security in Phoenix

Airline employees intentionally breach security

September 14, 2001 Posted: 12:24 AM EDT (0424 GMT)

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Three Northwest Airlines employees intentionally breached a security checkpoint at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix as flights resumed Thursday.

Two ground crew employees cleared the checkpoint with a pocketknife and a corkscrew while a pilot passed without proper identification, airport spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.

"Once they did that, they turned around and said, 'Hey, look what we did,"' she said. Their point: to show that security gaps still exist days after terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, she said.

Airport officials evacuated the terminal's north concourse and swept it for dangerous materials. Nothing was found and the concourse was reopened.

Luber said she did not know what happened to the three employees. "We would ask that nobody intentionally try to break security," she said.

Airport spokesman David Cavazos said the matter was referred to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A Northwest spokesman didn't immediately return a call Thursday.

Northwest provided limited service for a short time Thursday but it had canceled all flights by the evening, without providing details.