HOW SAFE IS THE AIRPORT YOU ARE FLYING TO ?

We accept x-ray machines and metal detectors because we know that without the inconvenience, a weapon or even a bomb can wind up on our flight. What happens when the detector doesn't go off, or the hand scanner doesn't work, or the security guard skips right over the gun in a briefcase. It has happened according to The Detroit News. In 1999 they reported on the Northwest Airlines security breaches at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The following incidents were cited after records were released under the Freedom of Information Act:

* An undercover FAA agent successfully smuggled bombs through the security checkpoints.

* An unidentified man who avoided a security checkpoint walked through an exit only door and was not stopped by any guard.

* An FAA agent's checked luggage successfully made it to Toronto; however, the agent was never on the flight - or any other flight for that matter.

In another incident, CNN reported that a US Airways agent at the Kansas City airport allowed an FAA agent to board a flight (even check his luggage) after he advised her that a stranger gave him something to carry on the flight. FAA agents were also able to sneak explosives and nine other firearms through Dallas-Ft. Worth security checkpoints.