San Jose airport fences passed inspection three weeks before teen's breach

Pictured is Yahya Abdi, 15, of Santa Clara. Yahya reportedly scaled the fence at Mineta San Jose International Airport to clambor into the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767 jetliner. (Courtesy Mukhtar Guled)

Three weeks before a teenager climbed a fence at San Jose Mineta International Airport and stowed away in the wheel well of an airliner, the Transportation Security Administration inspected and approved the airport's fence line security.

The disclosure by TSA administrator John S. Pistole during testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday is likely to add increasing pressure for improvements to airport perimeter security around the nation.

"What if it was someone else with an explosive that got on that plane?" asked Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who grilled Pistole about the San Jose incident. "Hey, this is bad news." She added later, "You cleared them and that's troubling to me."

Pistole said the TSA has been working "almost nonstop" to find out what happened.

The youth entered the airport under the cover of darkness. While airport officials have said they do not have video of the teen climbing the fence, they do have film of an unidentified intruder on the tarmac, but no one monitoring the closed-circuit video system saw it. Pistole said the airport could be fined "for allowing this to happen because it is an egregious violation of the airport's perimeter."

The Santa Clara youth, who apparently was trying to get back to his mother in Africa, somehow survived a 51/2 hour flight to Maui in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet, landing there on April 21.

In prepared talking points, Pistole said that from Jan. 2 to March 28, TSA conducted a comprehensive inspection of the airport and found it met security requirements for perimeter systems, including the fence line and other measures.

Inspectors reviewed physical barriers and electronic access control systems; the airport's badging system; training; law enforcement support; contingency plans; and adherence to specific directives from the TSA, according to Pistole's talking points.

The airport also has a project to enhance its standards for the fence line, he noted.

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San Jose airport fences passed inspection three weeks before teen's breach