The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Airport seeks how to stop fence jumpers
Two security breaches in two weeks have highlighted a weak point at Hartsfield-Jackson International: the 29.5 miles of security fencing surrounding the world’s busiest airport.
After the second incident in which a trespasser got past a fence to enter off-limits areas at Hartsfield-Jackson International, airport officials faced questioning from Atlanta city council members who are on the transportation committee that oversees the airport.
Though the first incident was caught on closed circuit television, Hartsfield-Jackson interim general manager Balram Bheodari acknowledged that there are parts of the airport perimeter not monitored by CCTV.
No footage of the second incident was found Tuesday, according to Bheodari. Police and airport security officials are trying to determine how the breach occurred.
Airport officials are also working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to do a “deeper dive” to see if there is any connection between the two incidents, Bheodari said.
“It’s very scary, and they definitely need to do something,” said transportation
committee member Carla Smith. The airport “is one of the places that we cannot take any chances,” she said.
The latest incident occurred at around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. An airport maintenance worker spotted the intruder, later identified by police as E’Donis T. Andrews, 22. Andrews was taken into custody and charged with criminal trespass. He had minor cuts and “appeared to be under the influence of alcohol,” according the police.
Two weeks ago, a different man scaled a razor-wire fence and ran onto an active taxiway toward a plane, according to police. The incident, which temporarily halted some flights, was documented by the plane’s passengers, who posted photos and video of the man wearing only underwear outside the aircraft.
“I hope this is not becoming a pattern,” Smith said. “This latest incident is making it a concern.”
Bheodari said the airport plans to increase the number of zones for surveillance from three to four. The airport inspected the entire fence line Tuesday and did not find any hole or entryway an intruder may have used.
Hartsfield-Jackson security director Jan Lennon said the airport is looking at structural improvements to the fencing, like putting concrete under more fencing to prevent people from crawling underneath and a mesh overlay to prevent people from climbing up.
The airport is also considering technology to detect intruders, such as infrared motion detection or radar sensors that can trigger an alarm if someone climbs a fence.
Other airport officials around the country “are talking about this,” said Bheodari, who added that he is also looking at security used at military installations and prison facilities.
Bheodari said he has visited Israel to look at airport security there. “Even with motion sensors, people were still able to breach” the perimeter, and false alarms triggered by animals or other movement could be an issue, he said.
“Can we ever prevent these things? I don’t know,” Bheodari said.