Massport records detail security breaches

The statement came after a 17-year-old Brookline youth scaled an airport fence, crossed the tarmac, boarded a plane, and flew to London as a stowaway in business class.

Abraham Derman told investigators he passed numerous airport employees, walked ''right in the middle'' of the tarmac, and was never stopped even though he was not carrying a bag and was dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and a white prayer shawl, according to Federal Aviation Administration documents obtained by the Globe.

Massport chief pledges accountability

By Walter Robinson, Globe Staff, 9/16/2001

irginia Buckingham, Massport's executive director, yesterday acknowledged that the authority's top officials would be held accountable if Logan's security procedures are found to have been more exploitable than those of other airports.

''The ongoing investigation is going to point out insufficiencies in the system at all airports, including Logan. If there are specific flaws that are unique to Logan, people here, including myself, will accept responsibility and whatever consequences there are,'' Buckingham said.

She said she has not focused on whether her ''personal future'' is at stake, saying that her only priority is to return Logan to full operation under tighter security.

Buckingham said it remains to be seen whether Logan's shortcomings were more serious than anywhere else. ''We do not yet know if there were security lapses unique to Logan, or something broader that affected every major airport, or whether it is possible there were no security lapses here at all. It is my belief that what happened here could have happened at any airport.''

Whatever the investigation uncovers, she said, she believes the hijackers selected Logan for other obvious reasons. ''Logan was picked because it is a large East Coast airport that had proximity to the targets and had loaded weapons in the form of full-fueled large aircraft ready to go early in the morning,'' she said.

Asked whether she believes Massport is a victim of a search for scapegoats, she said, ''No. It is simply that everyone is trying to deal with and understand a tragedy of extraordinary proportions.''

This agency is an elephant's burial ground for political hacks of all flavors. The degree of corruption and incompetence there is incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the Masachusetts way of life.

Mush mouthed hacks like this guy abound and eventually will be blaming the passengers themselves on these flights.

Lawless's experience? State Police driver for RINO Gov William Weld. Organized criminal groups run baggage handling much in the same way the longshoremen have run the docks (and all shipping out of MASSPORT).

Try TF Green or Manchester instead.

When I first heard that the planes that had crashed into the WTC had originated in Boston, my first thought was "Massport". Anyone who has lived in MA knows that Massport is full of political cronies who can't be fired even for the grossest dereliction of duty. The police who stand around outside allegedly protecting the airport are on paid detail. Paid details, throughout MA, are opportunities the police have to earn a little (actually, the pay is in the $20/hr or more range) extra cash without actually having to do anything. A paid detail usually involves a policeman sitting in his/her car at a construction site for hours on end. Some actually sleep through their assignment.

I would blame this on the Democrats who have run the state for decades, but fact of the matter is, the Republicans in MA are just as bad. As a MA native, I have sadly come to the conclusion that the political system in my home state is nearly beyond repair. The corruption is deeply rooted and I'm not sure anyone could clean it up. I love my former home and hope this can be changed, but I despair at the possibilities.

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