Last updated at 1:02 PM on 24th December 2010
An airline pilot is in hot water with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting videos on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.
Late last month a 50-year-old pilot, who asked that his name and the airline he works for not be made public, recorded mobile phone videos showing the problems that still exist in airport security systems.
The videos show how easily ground crews at San Francisco International Airport were able to access secure areas.
Scroll down for a video report...
A security officer checks a passenger with a handheld metal detector at a US airport. A pilot has been punished after posting videos exposing how ground crew who service the aircraft don't go through the same rigorous checks
The man, who lives outside Sacramento, has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputised by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.
But he said he'd had enough, and wanted to do what he could to draw attention to what he says is still a major problem in airport security.
'People don't understand that when they walk through the TSA checkpoints, well, they are getting, now they are getting a groping, but they don't understand that all those people you see outside, the ground personal, all the caterers, all the airline cleaners, they get virtually nothing,' the pilot said in an interview with ABC News.
The man is also a helicopter test pilot in the Army Reserve and flew missions for the United Nations in Macedonia.
Three days after he posted six video clips recorded at the major airport, four federal air marshals and two sheriff's deputies arrived at his house to confiscate his federally-issued firearm.
He was also asked to surrender his state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The YouTube videos show what the pilot calls the irony of flight crews being forced to go through TSA screening while ground crew who service the aircraft are able to access secure areas simply by swiping a card
A follow-up letter from the sheriff's department said the CCW permit would be re-evaluated following the outcome of the federal investigation.
The YouTube videos, posted on November 28, show what the pilot calls the irony of flight crews being forced to go through TSA screening while ground crew who service the planes simply have to swipe a card.
'As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It's only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here,' the pilot is heard saying.
Another clip shot in the cockpit shows a rescue axe available on the flight deck after the pilots have gone through the metal detectors.
A video shot in the cockpit shows a rescue axe available on the flight deck after the pilots have gone through the metal detectors
'I would say a two-foot crash axe looks a lot more formidable than a box cutter,' comments the pilot.
The pilot has since received a letter directly from the TSA that says, 'An administrative review into your deputation status as a Federal Flight Deck Officer has been initiated.'
According to the letter, the review was directly related to the discovery by TSA staff of the YouTube videos.
'The content and subject of these videos may have violated regulations concerning disclosure of sensitive security information,' the letter said.
The pilot has defended his actions, saying: 'I just tried to address my concerns and voice it on YouTube.
'Basically all you have to do is we have an employee line, you just put them through the employee screener.'
A businessman accidentally travelled on a flight with a loaded handgun in his luggage after getting through security checks by TSA officials
The pilot said he is not in trouble with his airline, but a supervisor asked him to remove public access to the videos online.
He does, however, face potential civil penalties from the TSA.
The TSA has had plenty of flak in the past few months for its security procedures.
Earlier this month a businessman told how he accidentally travelled on a flight with a loaded handgun in his luggage. He didn't discover he had the weapon in his hand luggage until he reached his hotel and unpacked his bag.
In an earlier case on the completely opposite side of the spectrum, a female passenger claimed that she was assaulted by TSA agents when she was ordered to be patted down because her sanitary towel showed up on the body scanner.
Humiliated by her experience, the unidentified Army vet wrote to women's health company Gladrags to detail what happened.
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