'%20id='ico-down'%20stroke='%23000000'%20stroke-width='1.5'%3e%3cg%20transform='translate(1092.250000,%20254.750000)'%3e%3cpolyline%20id='Path-2-Copy-4'%20transform='translate(5.500000,%202.750000)%20scale(1,%20-1)%20rotate(-180.000000)%20translate(-5.500000,%20-2.750000)%20'%20points='0%200%205.5%205.5%2011%200'%3e%3c/polyline%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
7 September 2004
BRUSSELS – Serious security lapses have been uncovered by a journalist working undercover at Brussels National airport, it was revealed on Tuesday.
Tim Verheyden, a journalist working for the Telefacts documentary on private Flemish channel VTM, posed for three months as an airport worker to investigate security procedures.
The idea was inspired by the approaching third anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Verheyden was employed with his own identity but he changed certain personal details, none of which was ever uncovered.
He then succeeded in placing a fake bomb on a US aircraft carrying 200 passengers.
The device, made of plasticine, was a replica of the bomb placed on Pan Am 103 that blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in the 1980s, claiming 270 victims.
The journalist removed the fake bomb before take-off but his actions were enough to highlight serious security shortfalls.
The documentary also revealed that people with criminal records for hold-ups or drugs trafficking are regularly employed by airport authorities.
Despite the shock of September 11, these people still have access to mainstream airlines, reported VTM.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
Subject: Belgian news