[Infowarrior] - Pilot's Laptop Causes Big Airport Security Scare

[Richard Forno]

Pilot's Missing Laptop Causes Airport Security Scare
   posted 11:08 pm Thu April 24, 2008 - Washington

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0408/514346.html


A pilot's laptop, filled with top secret security information was reported
missing at Dulles Airport and the ripple effects were felt across the
country.

The Mesa Airlines employee couldn't find the personal laptop he brought with
him while co-piloting a United Express flight from Birmingham, Alabama to
Dulles International Airport (web|news) .

17 airports were forced to make emergency changes to access codes at Dulles,
Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago's O'Hare and San Antonio.

Various officials within the airline industry admit that with these access
codes, someone who went though security could, with the touch of a few
buttons, get onto a plane or get outside, right below a plane.

A TSA spokesperson said, "On April 17, Mesa Airlines notified TSA that an
employee reported a laptop, containing confidential information, had been
misplaced, lost or stolen."

Federal and airline officials admitted that the classified codes on the
computer provided the pilot, through a keypad, access from the gate to the
plane and down to ground level right below the plane.

Passengers were appalled. "That's just a major security breach for everyone
that flies within the United States."

One airline insider tells ABC 7 News the laptop was probably stored in an
overhead compartment used by passengers and likely stolen.

Federal officials quickly contacted 17 U.S. airports used by the pilot,
warning them of the security breach. Media representatives for a number of
those airports affected, including Dulles, Phoenix and Akron-Canton said the
codes were promptly changed. ABC 7 News learned one security official at a
midwest airport rushed to work in the middle of the night to prevent a
breach.

A Mesa Airlines spokesperson said, "Any breach of aviation security is of
primary concern to Mesa Airlines and we are fully cooperating with the TSA."

Meanwhile, a TSA official said the agency, "may look at increasing the
standards for anyone who stores this type of information on their
computers."

Airline officials said they have very little to go on because they don't
know if the pilot was targeted or if it was a crime of opportunity. A
spokesperson for Dulles said airport police are investigating.