WinterSports2002.com, Thursday, March 21, 2002
Airport probed for possible Games lapses
By Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writer
Federal aviation security officials are investigating alleged rules violations at Salt Lake City International Airport during the 2002 Winter Games.
The probe first came to light in a USA Today article that cited a Transportation Security Administration official as saying at least 19 Federal Aviation Administration agents assigned to the airport during the Olympics reported security procedures were ignored.
"TSA is conducting an inquiry into some management issues at Salt Lake City," an agency spokesman told the Deseret News. "There were some concerns during the Olympics, but our security agents did what they were expected to do to make sure any problems were immediately corrected by the airport or the air carrier and there were no security lapses. We have only one complaint during that time, and we are not aware of the circumstances surrounding the 19 that were alleged in the USA Today article."
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said his agency was conducting a "management review."
"We have senior management that are looking over all the events that took place during the whole Olympics," Fergus said. "We're trying to pull together some information for TSA."
Allegations made in the USA Today story included:
Airport Executive Director Timothy Campbell said he was unaware of those breaches and characterized the allegations as a "food fight" between TSA officials. During the 17-day Olympics, Campbell said there were no security breaches or arrests.
"They're squabbling over how to interpret their own rules and regulations," Campbell said. "It's a little unfortunate that they chose to air their dirty laundry on the front page of a national newspaper."
Campbell confirmed TSA officials had interviewed him regarding an incident Feb. 24, the night of closing ceremonies.
Late that night, just after commercial flight restrictions had ended following completion of the closing ceremonies, TSA Division Manager Ron Peay, of the Seattle office, ordered an evacuation of the airport after it was believed a metal detector hadn't been functioning properly.
"It turns out the magnetometer was functioning properly, and rather than checking the magnetometer to verify, he just ordered the evacuation," Campbell said.
The four-hour shutdown affected several thousand people and forced about 500 Delta passengers who missed their flights to spend the night at the airport.
"We frankly didn't get very good answers as to why he made that decision," Campbell said.
That move prompted Campbell to write a letter to John Magaw, head of the TSA. He also sent copies to Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson and Utah's congressional delegation.
"Upon Mr. Peay's arrival he notified the airlines that 'he was going to shut the airport down,' " the letter stated.
The letter also claimed Peay told local federal airport security officials not to attend weekly meetings with local airport and airline officials.
"His attitude was that of playing 'gotcha,' not of trying to make the air transportation system as safe and secure as possible," Campbell said.
Peay said he could not comment on the allegations because he hadn't seen the letter or been contacted by TSA superiors about the incident.
"I'm sure if they thought I'd done something wrong they'd contact me," Peay said.
He oversaw a team of about 30 TSA agents who came into town to oversee airport security.
The TSA took over aviation security from the FAA on Feb. 17 as part of the increased airport surveillance following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Several federal agencies like the FBI and U.S. Secret Service provided additional security at the airport during the Games, Feb. 8-24.
"It was probably as secure as the airport has ever been from that point of view," Campbell said. "We just had a lot of security personnel here."
E-MAIL: djensen@desnews.com
© 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company