DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Office of Inspector General 

Transportation Security Administration’s 

Revised Security Procedures 

 (Unclassified Summary) 

Office of Audits 

OIG-05-51 September 2005 
Office of Inspector General 

U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security 

Washington, DC 20528

Preface 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was 

established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by 

amendment to the Inspector General Act of 1978. This is one of a series of audit, 

inspection, and special reports prepared by our office as part of our DHS oversight 

responsibilities to promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency within the 

department. 

This report represents an abbreviated version of our report containing sensitive 

security information that assesses actions by TSA to improve the handling of threat 

and non-threat communications and ensure airlines properly search aircraft for 

prohibited items. It is based on interviews with employees and officials of 

government agencies and private companies, direct observations, and a review of 

applicable documents. 

The information contained in this report has been developed to the best knowledge 

available to us, and had been discussed in draft with appropriate management 

officials. It is our hope that this report will result in more effective, efficient, and 

economical operations. We express our appreciation to all of those who contributed 

to the preparation of this report. 

 

 

 Richard L. Skinner 

Inspector General 
OIG Audit 

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Department of Homeland Security 

Office of Inspector General 

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Executive Summary 

TSA’s Contact Center has made improvements to its procedures to ensure 

that communications containing potential security violations, threat 

information, or criminal activities are forwarded to TSA security 

operations.1 These improvements include more clearly defining 

reportable communications, improving the training for customer service 

operators on potential security threats, hiring Contact Center security 

specialists, and establishing an email filtering system that recognizes key 

words and phrases so that they can be sent directly to a security mailbox 

where the security specialist reviews them. In addition, in December 

2004, the Contact Center began operating 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. 

TSA has also improved its procedures for inspecting aircraft. 

However, further improvements were needed. Specifically, the Contact 

Center was not always timely in reviewing and forwarding to the TSA 

operations center communications containing potential security violations, 

threat information, or criminal activities. Furthermore, air carrier 

personnel or contractors were not performing security searches of all 

interior areas of aircraft, as required by TSA regulations. Finally, air 

carriers were not always maintaining documentation of security searches, 

and TSA was not consistently reviewing available security search 

documentation. 

Introduction

From February 2003 to September 2003, a 20-year-old college student 

breached TSA security checkpoints on multiple occasions and concealed 

prohibited items in the lavatory areas of the aircraft. Each time the student 

placed the items in a plastic bag with a note explaining his reasons for 

committing the breach. The student also sent an email to the TSA Contact 

Center on September 15, 2003, identifying himself and describing six 

1

 TSA’s Transportation Security Coordination Center through March 2004, or TSA’s Transportation Security 

Operations Center after March 2004. 
OIG Audit 

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Office of Inspector General 

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security breaches and the items he had hidden on aircraft. However, TSA 

took no action on the email. On October 16, 2003, the concealed items, 

along with the notes from the student, were found aboard two aircraft 

during maintenance checks. This incident highlighted aviation security 

vulnerabilities and disclosed weaknesses in TSA’s handling of 

communications that may indicate threats as well as lapses in airlines’ 

security searches of aircraft. 

TSA requires aircraft operators to conduct a security search of each 

airplane cockpit, cabin, and cargo area, as a part of or after servicing 

operations, by personnel who have been trained to perform an aircraft 

security search. Searches are required at the beginning of the day for 

aircraft flying to a U.S. or Canadian destination, and for all departures to 

an international destination. 

The incident prompted actions by TSA to improve the handling of threat 

and non-threat communications2 and ensure airlines properly search 

aircraft for prohibited items. The report presents our assessment of TSA’s 

actions. We focused our review on answering two key questions: 

• Are TSA’s communications handling procedures adequate to 

ensure timely processing of security related information? 

• Is TSA’s aircraft inspection regimen adequate to ensure timely 

discovery of prohibited items on aircraft? 

We performed this assessment in response to a request from the 

Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives. 

2

 Communications include emails, postal mail, faxes, and telephone calls. 
OIG Report

Audit 

Department of Homeland Security 

Office of Inspector General 

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Additional Information and Copies 

To obtain additional copies of this report, call the Office of Inspector General 

(OIG) at (202) 254-4100, fax your request to (202) 254-4285, or visit the OIG 

web site at www.dhs.gov.

OIG Hotline 

To report alleged fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement, or any other kind 

of criminal or noncriminal misconduct relative to department programs or 

operations, call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-323-8603; write to Department of 

Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528, Attn: Office of Inspector 

General, Investigations Division – Hotline. The OIG seeks to protect the 

identity of each writer and caller.