Tests Confirm: Airport Security Isn't Working

You might have hoped interminable lines and indignities of shoe removal might have contributed to safer airplanes, but a study by the Transportation Security Administration shows screeners missing fake bombs at an alarming rate. USA Today obtained a copy of the classified report, whose rate of failure stunned officials: at LAX, about 75% of the dummy explosives got through security.

The TSA ran tests at LAX, O'Hare and San Francisco, in which they hid explosive materials in cosmetics kits, briefcases, and portable CD players. They got through often with no trouble at all. Privatized security in San Francisco fared somewhat better, largely because screeners are checked constantly. Still, according to a Homeland Security official, "That's a huge cause for concern." (More TSA stories.)