TSA Fails to Detect Over 94% of Threats — Again
A few years ago, it was revealed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) failed to detect over 95% of potential threats, leading to the ousting of TSA Director Melvin Carraway. Well, you can rest easy now as the TSA has improved that number to... 94.4%. At least at one airport.
In a recent test of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), the TSA reportedly failed to detect threats such as "explosive materials, fake weapons or drugs" in 17 of 18 cases. According to multiple Minneapolis-based Fox9 sources, the failure rate was so high that the TSA pulled the plug on further testing. The same airport did better in testing in April 2016, merely failing on 9 of 12 cases (75%).
We checked with the TSA to see if these reported test results were accurate. A TSA spokesperson responded: "TSA cannot confirm or deny the results of internal tests and condemns the release of any information that could compromise our nation's security."
Mind you, this 94% failure rate doesn't mean that the Minneapolis TSA wouldn't catch routine threats, such as a gun packed in a carry-on suitcase. The TSA "Red Team" who's performing these tests are specially trained to test TSA security for flaws. The Los Angeles Times quotes a former head of the TSA calling the Red Team "super-terrorists for their ability to smuggle weapons and other prohibited items aboard planes."
With that said, isn't it more important for the TSA to stop "super terrorists" — rather than a person who just forgot to pull a gun out of a bag before packing it for a trip? It would seem that the former would be a lot bigger threat to aviation security than the latter. The latter may be careless, but the former has intention to harm.
Hopefully the TSA can get its act together. Although it might be forcing you to pull out your books for screening in some airports, with all of these ~95% failures on tests, it's not really inspiring much confidence right now.
H/T: View From The Wing
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images.
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| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
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Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month