San Francisco Airport Defends Security in Wake of Pilotâ??s Videos

The leadership of the San Francisco, California airport fired back just days ago at critics who rallied around a commercial pilot who had posted videos online showing what he described as security shortcomings. The series of videos featured scenes from inside the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and were narrated by the pilot, who noted the contrast between the passengers, who were heavily scrutinized, and airport employees who just passed through a single door. The footage was posted, and later removed, from the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube. â??A recent YouTube video, posted by a U.S. airline pilot, presents false and misleading information on SFOâ??s security program,â?? the airport said in a statement. â??The video shows a door with a card swipe and suggests that access is gained to the airfield area through this door. In fact, the door shown in the video provides access only to an employee lunchroom.â?? In its statement December 25, the airport defended its practices, stressing there are variances in the security system based on several factors, and that many layers of protection cannot easily be seen. A few days after the pilot posted the videos, he said, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told him he was being suspended from the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. The TSA said it holds those serving as federal flight deck officers to â??the highest ethical standards,â?? and said it took action because the pilot was in the program.