Sydney Airport security under scrutiny once again
The Daily Telegraph reported this morning that a sliding door covered with a piece of board is all that is preventing potential terrorists from reaching Qantas jets waiting on the tarmac.
The damning pictures revealed in The Daily Telegraph confirm the airport’s open-door approach to terrorism.
The perspex door covered with 1.5cm thick plywood leads to the domestic airport tarmac and can be reached by walking across the open Qantas hangar from a publicly accessible side street.
Members of the public and building workers refurbishing the hangar – none of whom have been subjected to background checks – can freely move on to the tarmac simply by uncovering the shoddily concealed door.
Despite the fresh evidence of a security breakdown at the airport, the Federal Government last night again denied to the Telegraph there was a problem.
A spokesman for Transport Minister Warren Truss confirmed three doors in the hangar were covered with plywood – but insisted they had been fastened with steel bolts.
“Somebody could get through it with an axe or a sledgehammer, but not without drawing attention to themselves. You cannot make every single area of an airport impenetrable,” he said.
Labor’s Homeland Security Spokesman Arch Bevis said: “This is a disgrace. The Government is covering up its inadequacies on airport security.
“The Daily Telegraph revealed this week that the hangar’s front gate had been left wide open.
The amateurish measures to protect the country’s biggest airport comes after details emerged of the British terror plot to blow up planes over US cities.
Sydney airport denied that security was at risk because a 4m cyclone fence had been erected across the front of the hangar.
However, the fence does not extend past the hangar’s far wall, meaning any potential terrorist could use it to access a grounded Qantas 737 at an area of the tarmac called Bay One just 50m away.
“All you have to do is take a loose wooden ‘chock’ out and you’re access all areas. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” an airport employee said yesterday.
Transport Workers Union president Tony Sheldon said a formal complaint would be lodged with Qantas.
“The Government has allegedly spent $300 million on national security to have a strip of wood protecting us from a terrorist attack,” Mr Sheldon said.
“We are talking about anyone having access to Qantas jets out on the tarmac. This could not only put those aircraft at risk but all of Sydney.”
Report by The Mole from The Daily Telegraph
John Alwyn-Jones
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