Screener

A former passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport was sentenced Monday to 11 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography through Facebook, authorities said. Thomas Gordon Jr., 47, of Northeast Philadelphia, worked for the Transportation Security Administration when he was arrested in March. Gordon possessed more than 600 sexually explicit images of children on his computer and on Internet accounts, said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Office in Philadelphia.

A former passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport was sentenced Monday to 11 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography through Facebook, authorities said. Thomas Gordon Jr., 47, of Northeast Philadelphia, worked for the Transportation Security Administration when he was arrested in March. Gordon possessed more than 600 sexually explicit images of children on his computer and on Internet accounts, said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Office in Philadelphia.

Is it a Philly thing? Are complaints about strange security screenings at the airport something you'll find across the country, or is there a particular problem here? I can't give you statistical certainty on this. But when you listen to frequent fliers like Quality Quinn, you have to wonder. "There is something wrong with the culture at this airport," Quinn, a 55-year-old educational consultant, told me last week. For 20 years she has flown around the country, giving talks on literacy, and in January she moved from Austin, Texas, to Philadelphia.

Three security screeners at Philadelphia International Airport have been placed on administrative leave after one of them brought a loaded pistol to work, apparently by mistake. Authorities said yesterday that the screener, whose name was not released, told them he forgot he had the gun, a 9mm Glock semiautomatic, with him when he reported for his shift at Terminal A-East Saturday morning. The man had been to a shooting range the night before and had packed the pistol in the same bag he brought to work, authorities said.

A US Airways pilot may face federal charges for making a wisecrack about a weapon as he passed a security checkpoint Saturday at Philadelphia International Airport, law enforcement officials said yesterday. Officials initially were seeking the identity of the pilot accused of making the remark to a security screener. US Airways became aware of his identity late Saturday, but neither the airline nor law enforcement officials would release his name yesterday. "We have begun an internal investigation," US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said.

Federal officials will review videotapes to identify the pilot whose "inappropriate" remark during a security screening yesterday prompted the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people from a US Airways terminal and 15 planes on the ground at Philadelphia International Airport. Passengers were delayed for nearly an hour and a half after the 1:30 p.m. incident. Some flights were canceled and others delayed, according to David Castelveter, a US Airways spokesman. "It was definitely an inappropriate remark," said Mark Pesce, spokesman for the airport "An individual at [the pilot's]

Nancy Anne Phillips, a 63-year-old retired professor from Southern California, was passing through Philadelphia in April when, she says, she had one of those nightmares at the airport that give this city a bad name. Her knees have been replaced with titanium, and a metal plate supports her back. She's used to setting off alarms. But she's not used to the sort of screening she experienced April 5 when a Transportation Security Administration worker motioned Phillips to the side for a secondary screening.

A FORMER Arizona State University assistant professor arrested in January after telling Liberty Bell security personnel that he had explosives in his backpack was held for trial Friday. Carlos Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., didn't have explosives the morning of Jan. 26, but his alleged threat and odd behavior made security at the historic landmark scramble. It also forced a brief stoppage of traffic on Market Street. After he uttered the threat as a screener was searching his bag, security was called.

Pennsylvania state police plan to travel to Ohio today to search a 22-ton piece of construction equipment involved in a fatal accident Thursday night on the Schuylkill Expressway. Troopers also will talk to the driver of the truck that hauled the load, which originated in Essington. The driver, identified by the Ohio Highway Patrol as James Palmer, told investigators he was unaware that a 400-pound to 500-pound piece of the equipment broke off, flew across the expressway, and killed a passenger in an oncoming car. Investigators said the piece broke loose after it struck the underside of a railroad bridge over the expressway just before the Route 202 North ramp.

After repeatedly viewing a security videotape, federal and local authorities have been unable to identify the man whose remark Saturday prompted the evacuation of a terminal at Philadelphia International Airport and the delay of as many as 20 flights. "The tapes are still being reviewed by law enforcement," said Holly Baker, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Baker said yesterday that the FBI had joined the investigation of the incident. "I'm sure they'll find him," airport spokesman Mark Pesce said.

A FORMER Arizona State University assistant professor arrested in January after telling Liberty Bell security personnel that he had explosives in his backpack was held for trial Friday. Carlos Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., didn't have explosives the morning of Jan. 26, but his alleged threat and odd behavior made security at the historic landmark scramble. It also forced a brief stoppage of traffic on Market Street. After he uttered the threat as a screener was searching his bag, security was called.

A former passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport was sentenced Monday to 11 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography through Facebook, authorities said. Thomas Gordon Jr., 47, of Northeast Philadelphia, worked for the Transportation Security Administration when he was arrested in March. Gordon possessed more than 600 sexually explicit images of children on his computer and on Internet accounts, said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Office in Philadelphia.

A former passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport was sentenced Monday to 11 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography through Facebook, authorities said. Thomas Gordon Jr., 47, of Northeast Philadelphia, worked for the Transportation Security Administration when he was arrested in March. Gordon possessed more than 600 sexually explicit images of children on his computer and on Internet accounts, said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Office in Philadelphia.

A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show. Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform. Homeland Security agents arrested the TSA officer March 24, and he is being held without bail.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A court-ordered review found Wednesday that security screeners repeatedly failed to recognize signs of mental illness that should have prevented the man blamed for deadly 2001 anthrax attacks from working with the deadly spores at the Army's flagship biodefense laboratory A panel of experts said Bruce Ivins' long history of psychiatric problems did not reach the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases because he...

A REPORT FROM the front line against terrorism: On vacation Thanksgiving week, at the airport, I made the metal detector beep, and that meant I was to be patted down. The magnetometer beeped because I forgot to remove my belt, but the uniformed officer asked me to step aside so she could search me. That's right, she . It was the day after Thanksgiving and a couple of days after hysterics were screaming that Transportation Security Administration screeners were planning a sexual-harassment kegger party for passengers.

I flew out of Philadelphia International Airport on Friday. No naked pictures, no Magic Fingers, no problem at all. What, am I not dangerous? For all the increased chatter about the Transportation Security Administration running amok through airports, what I experienced was a surprising nonevent, like what happens to the millions of people each year who pass through checkpoints. But I had coaching. Since I started harping in January on travelers' bad experiences with the TSA, I've been getting calls from a screener who will have to remain unnamed because he'd be fired in an instant if it got out he'd been talking to me. Make eye contact, he said.

Is it a Philly thing? Are complaints about strange security screenings at the airport something you'll find across the country, or is there a particular problem here? I can't give you statistical certainty on this. But when you listen to frequent fliers like Quality Quinn, you have to wonder. "There is something wrong with the culture at this airport," Quinn, a 55-year-old educational consultant, told me last week. For 20 years she has flown around the country, giving talks on literacy, and in January she moved from Austin, Texas, to Philadelphia.

Nancy Anne Phillips, a 63-year-old retired professor from Southern California, was passing through Philadelphia in April when, she says, she had one of those nightmares at the airport that give this city a bad name. Her knees have been replaced with titanium, and a metal plate supports her back. She's used to setting off alarms. But she's not used to the sort of screening she experienced April 5 when a Transportation Security Administration worker motioned Phillips to the side for a secondary screening.

Before the Senate confirms President Obama's nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration, lawmakers should insist that the TSA crack down on abuses by its airport screeners. There have been numerous tales recently of disabled passengers being forced to submit to ridiculous procedures before being allowed onto airplanes. The selection of a new chief for the agency is the right time to insist on better training and more sensible policies. The president has nominated retired Gen. Robert Harding to lead the TSA. On paper, Harding's background looks like a good fit for the administration's most important vacant post.