Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/351182
6 • august 2014 • world fence news Three weeks before a teenager climbed a fence at San Jose (Calif.) Mineta International Airport and stowed away in the wheel well of an airliner, the Transportation Securi- ty Administration inspected and ap- proved the airport's fence line secu- rity. That disclosure by TSA adminis- trator John S. Pistole during testimo- ny before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee in April is likely to add increasing pressure for improvements to airport perimeter security around the nation, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News. Pistole said the TSA has been working "almost nonstop" to find out what happened, the Mercury News re- ported. The youth entered the airport under the cover of darkness. While airport officials have said they do not have video of the teen climbing the fence, they do have film of an uniden- tified intruder on the tarmac, but no one monitoring the closed-circuit vid- eo system saw it. The Santa Clara youth, who ap- parently was trying to get back to his mother in Africa but had no idea of the destination of the airliner he climbed onto, somehow survived a 5-1/2 hour flight to Maui in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet, landing there on April 21. In prepared talking points, Pis- tole said that from Jan. 2 to March 28, TSA conducted a comprehensive inspection of the airport and found it met security requirements for perim- eter systems, including the fence line and other measures. Inspectors reviewed physical bar- riers and electronic access control systems; the airport's badging system; training; law enforcement support; contingency plans; and adherence to specific directives from the TSA, ac- cording to Pistole's talking points. The airport also has a project to enhance its standards for the fence line, he noted. TSA's requirements call for a six- foot fence around airports. San Jose has an extra foot of barbed wire atop an estimated six miles of fence en- closing the airport, according to an airport spokeswoman. Brian Jenkins, a senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corp., told the Mercury News that improving fence security has a low priority be- cause no intrusion has ever resulted in a fatality. Beefing up fences with cameras and other gear is expensive, he added, and airports have to pay for it. Jenkins also directs the National Transportation Security Center at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Stowaway incident at San Jose airport likely to increase pressure for airport perimeter security upgrades continued on page 68