Runway trot rings alarm bells
Source: Agencies |
August 15, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
UNITED States security experts are shocked by the case of a man who swam ashore, scaled a fence and walked dripping wet into New York's Kennedy Airport despite a US$100 million system of surveillance cameras and motion detectors.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees JFK Airport, quickly added police patrols to the airport perimeter and said it is investigating the incident.
"Thank God it wasn't a terrorist, but we have to look at it as if we had another attack," said Isaac Yeffet, former chief of security for Israeli airline El Al. "That's the only way we'll improve the system."
Authorities said the trouble began on Friday evening when 31-year-old Daniel Casillo's jet ski ran out of fuel in Jamaica Bay. Casillo swam toward the bright lights of Kennedy's runway 4L, which juts out into the bay, then climbed a 2.4-meter fence that is part of the airport's state-of-the-art Perimeter Intrusion Detection System.
Soaking wet, wearing a bright yellow life jacket, Casillo made his way across two intersecting runways - an estimated distance of nearly 3 kilometers - before he was spotted on a terminal ramp by an airline employee, authorities said.
Casillo was released without bail for a court appearance on October 2.
The intrusion-detection system, manufactured by defense contractor Raytheon Co, should have set off a series of warnings, said Bobby Egbert, spokesman for the Port Authority police officers union. "This system is made specifically for those types of threats - water-borne threats," Egbert said. "It did not detect him climbing over a fence. It did not detect him crossing two active runways."
Port Authority police interrogated Casillo and charged him with criminal trespassing.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees JFK Airport, quickly added police patrols to the airport perimeter and said it is investigating the incident.
"Thank God it wasn't a terrorist, but we have to look at it as if we had another attack," said Isaac Yeffet, former chief of security for Israeli airline El Al. "That's the only way we'll improve the system."
Authorities said the trouble began on Friday evening when 31-year-old Daniel Casillo's jet ski ran out of fuel in Jamaica Bay. Casillo swam toward the bright lights of Kennedy's runway 4L, which juts out into the bay, then climbed a 2.4-meter fence that is part of the airport's state-of-the-art Perimeter Intrusion Detection System.
Soaking wet, wearing a bright yellow life jacket, Casillo made his way across two intersecting runways - an estimated distance of nearly 3 kilometers - before he was spotted on a terminal ramp by an airline employee, authorities said.
Casillo was released without bail for a court appearance on October 2.
The intrusion-detection system, manufactured by defense contractor Raytheon Co, should have set off a series of warnings, said Bobby Egbert, spokesman for the Port Authority police officers union. "This system is made specifically for those types of threats - water-borne threats," Egbert said. "It did not detect him climbing over a fence. It did not detect him crossing two active runways."
Port Authority police interrogated Casillo and charged him with criminal trespassing.
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