This guy.. and his immediate superiors need to be prosecuted. This is criminal vandalism or reckless endangerment at the very least. ALPA?

I person who broke the airplanes really does need to be arrested and charged with in reckless endangerment of lives and conspiring to commit an act of terrorism. Throw the person in Guantanamo for 7 years and abuse them before thinking about his civil liberties.

Maybe I missed it, but has anyone heard if Eagle plans to retaliate with a lawsuit towards the TSA? Parts, labor, canceled flights and other logistics associated could make this a costly pill to swallow. Costly or financial speed bump, either way Eagle shouldn't be held responsible to pick up the check.

AMR is famous (infamous perhaps) for having fantastic lawyers. I don't anticipate this will cost mother anything in the long-run.

"Our inspector was following routine procedure for securing the aircraft that were on the tarmac," Montenegro told ABCNews.com.

"The TSA agent was attempting to determine if someone could break into a parked aircraft", according to Montenegro.

I'd expect better from an official spokesperson. Monty should have edited one word out of his statement, he could proudly declare "mission accomplished":

"The TSA agent was attempting to determine if someone could break a parked aircraft."

I'm suprised the TSA didn't try taking the head off of the towbar and using that as a blunt object to smash his way into the airplanes.

I know a couple guys that are CFI's now but, they did stint with the TSA for a job. They said it was joke and absolutly had no training about the aircraft.

I've sent a number of emails to my elected officials about TSA issues. This one is the most recent. These people are criminals. It's a federal offense to damage aircraft. They should be prosecuted.

This is an awesome post coming from someone named "Hobopilot" with a picture of a guy with a beer hat.... WOW

ALPA, TSA Address Security Inspection Deficiencies
Recent activities by TSA Aviation Direct Access Screening Program (ADASP) personnel culminated in an event at Chicago’s O’Hare International that demonstrated that some TSA personnel are unfamiliar with the proper ways to access parked aircraft. ALPA and TSA are working together to ensure that everyone involved in these activities has an appropriate understanding of relevant procedures.


On August 19, a TSA inspector assigned to the ADASP moved around several aircraft using external parts as handholds. The inspector was unaware of the potential damage he could have inflicted to the equipment or of the threat to safety.


ADASP was created for Transportation Security Officers to provide security screening for the presence of explosives, incendiaries, weapons, and other prohibited items or improper airport identification media. The security screening occurs at direct access points to include airport secured areas, sterile areas, and or aircraft operating areas except for TSA screening checkpoints.


Following report of the problem at ORD, TSA leadership immediately issued a message to reemphasize the importance of complying with the guidance provided in the ADASP Procedure Manual.


ALPA’s National Security Committee has been in contact with TSA officials to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated in the future. “Something like this can affect safety,” said ALPA president, Capt. John Prater. “We want to make it clear to TSA that, while we applaud their efforts to ensure the security of our aircraft, no action on their part can undermine safety.”

“We are reviewing this incident to discover whether the problem is procedural within TSA, or only involved one inspector,” said Capt. Bob Hesselbein, ALPA National Security Committee Chairman.