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Reporter pokes holes in airport security
Flimsy excuse gets a CT journalist onto runway at Ruzyne
By Kate Swoger STAFF WRITER |
A brief runway excursion by a Czech Television (CT) reporter has caused a huge stir over security at Prague's Ruzyne airport.
Viewers were aghast after the state network broadcast an expose on flawed safety checks at the airport April 19, prompting authorities to announce stepped-up measures at Ruzyne.
Using a hidden camera, a small quantity of official-looking envelopes and a flimsy excuse, journalist Nora Novakova, 24, breezed easily through the Czech Airlines (CSA) cargo office and onto the tarmac.
In the next 15 minutes, she walked by a group of apparently uninterested police officers, entered an empty CSA Boeing 737, wove her way through a line of passengers boarding a flight and dumped her makeshift packages into a garbage bin.
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| Who: | Czech Television (CT) reporter Nora Novakova |
| Where: | Prague's Ruzyne airport |
| What: | Walked onto the runway, through an empty Boeing 737 and up the gangway of a boarding flight |
| How: | Through an open door at the Czech Airlines (CSA) cargo office |
Airport authorities were initially indignant at Novakova's undercover report, accusing her of manipulating staff to breach security at Ruzyne, a charge she adamantly denies.
CT aired the report immediately, fearing that airline reaction might pre-empt its immediacy.
The broadcast alarmed officials who are still working to calm public fears about airline terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. Even before its airing, the Czech pilots' union had been pressing the government to upgrade airline security, demanding armed sky marshals and a specially trained police force for ground duty.
Karel Mundel, a spokesman for the pilots, said he wasn't surprised Novakova was able to slip onto the runway. "The report shows us that a problem exists," he said. "It's not really dangerous, but there's a chance [of terrorism]. Maybe it's a small chance."Officials say they have tightened security in response to the broadcast, although they refuse to give details.
The airport is subject to regular security audits by state authorities, foreign airlines and other regulatory bodies. So far, Ruzyne has always passed all such tests, said Czech Airport Authority spokeswoman Vlasta Pallova.
Pallova insisted Novakova's foray onto the tarmac was not a result of systematic laxness: "Unfortunately, this [incident] must be attributed to the human error factor."
Novakova's undercover report started with a call from a friend, who told her she'd been left unattended at the CSA cargo office while dropping off packages. The friend had opened an unlocked door and found that it led to the runway.
Novakova, rigged with a hidden camera, decided to test the system herself. Her friend, who joined her, distracted the cargo clerk, giving Novakova enough time to purloin empty envelopes from a shelf near the door to the cargo bay. She added them to others she'd stuffed at the office and buzzed for the clerk.
A harried woman accepted her explanation that she was from a travel service and needed to take the envelopes somewhere on the tarmac. To Novakova, what happened next almost seems unreal.
"I don't remember much. I wasn't scared, but I was nervous," she said.
A cameraman in the airport's observation deck recorded Novakova's meanderings. She explained her presence in and around parked aircraft by stating she was looking for a fictitious Mr. Simacek.
Videotapes record her passing by three policemen twice. The first time they barely noticed her. The second time they turned as she walked past, "looking at me as a woman," Novakova said.
She also strode up the gangway of a Sofia, Bulgaria-bound flight, coming in close contact with travelers.
A few hours after Novakova slipped away unnoticed, she received a call from a CSA representative. Reviewing surveillance tapes, security officials had spotted an unauthorized civilian on the runway. The airline representative naturally thought of her. (Novakova did a hidden-camera investigation last year of preflight passenger screenings by British officials. Roma had called the screenings racially discriminatory.)
"They were trying to scare me, rather than thanking me for the help and saying they would try their best to avoid such a problem in the future," Novakova said.
CSA spokesman Dan Plovajko could not be reached for comment.
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