A Qantas pilot has warned dangerous airport security loopholes are leaving us vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Australian and International Pilots Association president and A380 pilot Murray Butt said there are problems with background checks on airport workers.
He claims airport employees such as baggage handlers and engineers are not subject to tests for explosives or required to go through X-ray scanners.
A Qantas pilot has warned of dangerous airport security loopholes leaving us vulnerable to terrorist attacks (pictured are workers on the tarmac at an Australian airport)
Australian and International Pilots Association president and A380 pilot Murray Butt said there are problems with background checks on airport workers (pictured is an airport worker)
‘Below the aircraft a myriad of people, doing a myriad of jobs, from a myriad of backgrounds, are virtually getting no screening whatsoever,’ he told A Current Affair.
While such workers are required to do background checks, problems checked those from overseas create potential vulnerabilities.
‘Because of the inability to do criminal background checks in some of the other countries, it’s not possible for them to find out what the background is of some of those people,’ said Mr Butt.
In one case, a Sydney Airport employee from India reportedly lost his job at the check-in gates when his criminal record came to light.
Mr Butt (pictured) claims airport employees such as baggage handlers and engineers are not subject to tests for explosives or required to go through X-ray scanners
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon wants new rules ensuring airport workers go through the same checks conducted on passengers.
‘The rules need to be changed so that if you actually have access to an aircraft, you have been screened and you’ve been screened in a way that all other passengers are,’ Mr Xenophon said.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon wants new rules ensuring airport workers go through the same checks conducted on passengers (pictured are passengers queuing to go through airport security)
The government has promised to address airport security in recent weeks, following an alleged terror plot to bomb passenger planes flying out of Australian airports.
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton warned the threat to Australia will only increase in the wake of terror raids that led to four arrests.
The July raids let to calls for new restrictions on liquids, photo identification checks for passengers of domestic flights and full-body scans at all airports.
In one case, a Sydney Airport (pictured, stock image) employee from India reportedly lost his job at the check-in gates when his criminal record came to light