Lax Security Screening of Trucks at Newark Airport Means Trouble

A news investigation has exposed what experts call a major security lapse at Newark Liberty Airport in Newark, New Jersey. While passengers go through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints that confiscate bottled water and even small tubes of toothpaste, large trucks and vans packed with cargo drive right passed security checkpoints onto the airport tarmac with little to no inspection. Video captured by Fox 5 News has sparked action by one government agency and stunned aviation and security experts. “Compared to what passengers put up with, this was a playground,” said an aviation security expert. A security firm called FJC is responsible for security at Terminal C at Newark Airport. The video shows FJC security guards stopping trucks at the checkpoint, then walking around the truck using a mirror to look at the undercarriage of the vehicle, but never actually examining the cargo inside the truck, save for a cursory, 5-second glance inside. “That’s not what security is about,” an expert said. “The worst-case scenario is an individual goes in with a truck filled with a sizeable amount of explosives.” Bomb sniffing dogs were never seen at the checkpoints. FJC also operates at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York.