Airport security slammed
A test of security controls at Oslo's main airport at Gardermoen had such shockingly poor results that several security guards were dismissed and aviation officials are demanding improvements.
 A test of security controls at Gardermoen reportedly had dismal results. PHOTO: PAAL AUDESTAD |
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Newspaper VG reported Friday that fully eight out of nine persons assigned to test the system made it through security while carrying knives and even bombs.
One woman had a knife concealed in her bra, another mock passenger testing the system had a bullet hidden in a hair barrette and others sent three bags carrying bombs through the airport's X-ray system. Only one of the bombs was discovered.
So shocking were the test results that security personnel from Adecco, the firm that has a contract at Oslo Lufthavn Gardermoen (OSL), were taken off duty immediately and sent home.
The tests were carried out this week by Norway's own civil aviation authority (Luftfartstilsynet), which sent in personnel unannounced to monitor security controls. They won't talk about the tests' results, but confirm that a control was carried out.
A notice on the aviation authority's web site Friday stressed that such inspections are carried out routinely and continually, and that the results are never disclosed publicly. VG's report wouldn't be commented upon either, but the authority went on to claim that VG had used some information that contained errors. It wouldn't elaborate.
The inspections are conducted "to reveal weaknesses in the systems," the authority wrote, stressing that "all errors and discrepancies shall immediately be corrected, so that the security of travelers is held "at the highest level."
Some claim Oslo's airport has faced security challenges, not least because of high personnel turnover at Adecco. An Adecco spokesman, however, claimed working conditions at Gardermoen are "very good" and that Adecco is cooperating with a new firm, G48, that will take over security responsibility in March.
Nina Berglund
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