Transportation Security Administration investigators only conduct risk assessments of about 40 airports over a three-year period, according to a federal audit, which also shows that the agency has failed to search for possible terrorists working at the airports.
Thirty-four airports deemed “high-risk” receive a triennial “joint vulnerability assessment” conducted by the TSA and the FBI. The assessments are one of two measures used to assess the vulnerability of airports, the Government Accountability Office said, but few other airports are reviewed as thoroughly. The TSA has conducted the assessments at four to six other airports each year but has not been able to conduct them at all U.S. airports, the watchdog said in a report released Tuesday.
The GAO also faulted the TSA for failing to use the joint vulnerability assessment as an opportunity to search for potential terrorists working at the airports.
“TSA has not updated this assessment to reflect changes in the airport security risk environment, such as TSA’s subsequent determination of risk from the insider threat — the potential of rogue aviation workers exploiting their credentials, access and knowledge of security procedures throughout the airport for personal gain or to inflict damage,” the audit said.
The audit was published as House and Senate Republicans are disagreeing about how to proceed with legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune used the report to pressure House Republicans to hold a vote on his bill, which has passed the Senate.
“Critical safety reforms, in a bill that passed the Senate 95-3, shouldn’t face substantial delays over provisions that do not have enough support to become law this year,” Thune said. “It’s time for the House to act and avoid a short-term extension of aviation authorities that doesn’t address aviation safety and security.”
Between 2009 and 2015, the agency reviewed 81 of the nation’s 437 airports — less than 20 percent of them. The GAO said such labor-intensive studies might not be feasible at all airports, but urged the agency to develop alternative means of assessing risk, because even small airports can have significant security lapses.
“They are part of what TSA characterizes as a system of interdependent airport hubs and spokes in which the security of all is affected by the security of the weakest one,” the report says.
