Bomb Parts Smuggled Past U.S. Airport Security by Investigators

By James Rowley

 Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Investigators smuggled liquid explosives and other materials to make improvised bombs past 19 U.S. airport checkpoints in a congressional study that exposed a vulnerability of airlines to terrorist attacks.

The Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, reported that guards employed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration didn't appear in most cases to violate security procedures when they failed to detect explosives. The procedures were implemented after U.K. authorities foiled a 2006 terrorist plot to smuggle liquid explosives aboard trans-Atlantic airlines bound for the U.S.

Investigators bought the materials to make the bombs for less than $150 and smuggled them past guards in carry-on luggage or on their persons, the GAO said in the report to Congress.

``Our tests clearly demonstrate that a terrorist group, using publicly available information and few resources, could cause severe damage and threaten the safety of passengers by bringing prohibited'' bomb components ``through security checkpoints,'' the GAO said.

At one checkpoint on March 23, a security guard stopped an investigator and confiscated an unlabeled bottle of medicated shampoo while failing to detect a liquid explosive, the report said. At another airport in June, a guard failed to detect explosive material during a pat-down search of one investigator, the GAO said.

The GAO suggested improving security and catching smugglers with ``aggressive, visible and unpredictable deterrent measures'' and more pat-downs. Improved detection technology may also help enhance security, the GAO said.

The findings will be presented today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.