For the next while, FAA inspectors will have to line up and wait like the rest of us if they want to get to a secure area of the airport. The move comes after an unidentified inspector used his secure area identification area badge to bypass security at Atlanta Airport before boarding a flight for La Guardia with a gun in his carry-on. The gun was detected at La Guardia and the inspector was arrested. FAA inspectors often have to work in secure areas of the airport and the badge access made that more efficient, but Administrator Michael Huerta said it’s clear the program needs work.
He said in a statement the agency will beef up training of inspectors during the temporary suspension. Inspectors will also be required to sign an agreement stating that their airport pass privileges will be permanently revoked if they get caught with guns on the other side. The gun-toting inspector is still on the payroll but is doing “non-safety related duties,” the FAA told Reuters. It offered no explanation as to why the inspector might have been packing.
