A fake bomb was snuck into Newark Airport by an undercover TSA inspector. The Daily Mail reported that the inspector was able to get through two security checkpoints and board a commercial flight with an "improvised explosive device" in his pants.
The situation occurred on February 25th when the TSA's special ops team did a mock intrusion at the airport. The bomber was given a pat down and still let through security checkpoints.
The TSA said that they would not give details of their undercover work.
"TSA regularly conducts covert testing of security layers. Regardless of the tests' outcome, TSA officers are provided with immediate on-the-spot feedback so they receive the maximum training value that the drills offer," the statement said reported The Daily Mail.
A source said to The New York Post that "this episode once again demonstrates how Newark Airport is the Ground Zero of TSA failures."
The bomber was part of a team of four that posted as passengers with tickets and going through the B1 checkpoint of Terminal B which is where JetBlue, Delta and American Airlines is situated.
The New York Post reported that the inspector got though the checkpoints at around 11 a.m. and then pulled aside for a pat down. Here the agent failed to find the fake IED bomb and allowed the "bomber" to move a long to the gate.
"He did have a simulated IED in his pants," the source said to The New York Post. "They did not find it."
Reportedly an IED is small enough to be stashed inside pants and is strong enough to blow a hole through a plane's fuselage.
After Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab tried to smuggle in an underwear bomb in 2009, the TSA did mock bombs modeled after that device as well as the 2001 shoe bomber, Richard Reid.
The New York Post reported that one member of the TSA's bomber team was stopped at the checkpoint which was a female agent that was carrying a simulated IED inside her carry on bag and it was inside a child's doll.
The source said to The New York Post that the doll had wires sticking out so it was obviously suspicious.
"TSA regularly conducts covert testing of security layers. Regardless of the tests' outcome, TSA officers are provided with immediate on-the-spot feedback so they receive the maximum training value that the drills offer," a statement from the TSA said. "Due to the security-sensitive nature of the tests, TSA does not publicly share details about how they are conducted, what specifically is tested or the outcomes."
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