Airport Officials Reviewing Procedures After Evacuation

DRUG ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WHO SPURRED ACTION IS CLEARED

Authorities at Louisville International Airport have located and
cleared a law-enforcement officer who prompted an evacuation of the
terminal Tuesday night.

But they are reviewing security procedures to see if adjustments need
to be made to prevent similar false alarms.

The officer -- an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration --
raised concern among federal screeners when he went beyond a security
checkpoint without signing in about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Robert
Foster, acting federal security director for the airport.

What the screeners didn't know is that the agent, whose name has not
been released, was visiting the airport on official business and
didn't have to sign in because he wasn't leaving on a departing
flight, said Foster, who works for the federal Transportation Security
Administration.

At the initial security checkpoint, the officer had identified himself
as a lawenforcement officer and was subsequently waved around metal
detectors, Foster said.

The officer also had an airport badge, which provides access to the
secure area beyond the metal detectors, Foster said.

"He did nothing wrong," Foster said. "He followed his procedures.
We followed our procedures."

But screeners were caught off guard because most of the
law-enforcement officers who come through the airport are ticketed
airline passengers who must follow "a very rigid procedure" after
that initial check-in, he said.

That procedure involves checking in with a uniformed officer who
examines the person's credentials, confirms the person's identity and
checks with the airline, said Heather Rosenker, a Washington
spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

When that procedure wasn't followed, security contacted the airlines
to see if anyone had checked in with them as a law-enforcement
officer, Foster said. No one had. As a result, the airport was
searched, but the officer couldn't be found, he said.

So the portion of the airport beyond the security checkpoint was
evacuated and searched to ensure that it was safe, Foster said. The
checkpoint was reopened about 7:10 p.m., he said.

Passengers had to be rescreened and about 13 flights were delayed,
airport spokeswoman Rande Swann has said.

Further investigation, which included a review of videotape from the
airport, determined that the officer was from the DEA and that he
didn't have to sign in because he was not departing on a flight.

He wasn't found during the search because he was only at the airport a
short time, Foster said.

A representative of the DEA's Louisville office was out yesterday and
could not be reached for comment.

Federal security officials will confer with airport police to see if
procedures need to be changed, such as making sure officers identify
the agency they're with and whether they're leaving on a departing
flight, Foster said.

"I'm sure that from now on when anybody comes through on official
business, they will check in with the law-enforcement officer (at the
checkpoint) and advise them that they are there."

The incident is not considered a security breach, he
said.

But it is the second security incident that has occurred at the
airport in a week.

Russell Baldwin, a retired Atlanta police officer who works in
Kentucky as a construction manager, was found with a loaded 9mm
handgun and a knife in his carry-on luggage last Friday. He was
charged with attempting to carry a weapon onto an aircraft and was
released Saturday on $100,000 unsecured bond.

"We determined and found the weapon as we should," Foster said. That
incident and the one Tuesday night show "we are still being very
vigilant on security matters and that we'll take the necessary action
to ensure that the airport remains safe."

Greg Warren, a Washington spokesman for the federal security agency,
said its Louisville representatives followed "proper procedures and
did what was necessary to ensure that the airport passengers were safe."

Lois G. Hill, a passenger who was flying back to Washington, D.C.,
yesterday afternoon after visiting Louisville for an Elks convention,
said she felt safe at the airport despite the two incidents.

The fact that the screeners caught the problems means "they're on
their job," Hill said. "They're doing their job like they're
supposed to."

Sandie Hernandez of Jeffersonville, Ind., said she also wasn't overly
concerned. She was at the airport to pick up a friend who was arriving
from Spain for a class reunion.

Sandie Hernandez of Jeffersonville, Ind., who was picking up a friend,
said she wasn't overly concerned about security at Louisville
International Airport.

Federal airport screeners are "doing their job like they're supposed
to," said Lois G. Hill, a passenger who was returning to Washington,
D.C., yesterday.