Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Civil Aviation Security Program to determine the effectiveness of FAA inspection efforts to identify and rectify domestic security deficiencies.

GAO reviewed inspection programs at six large airports and found that: (1) FAA lacked adequate controls over personnel identification systems and air operations access points; (2) inspectors did not verify personnel and vehicle identification systems, but relied on airport or air carrier officials' descriptions and judgments; and (3) passenger-screening processes needed improvement to ensure their effectiveness in preventing passengers from carrying weapons on board airplanes. GAO also found that FAA: (1) has addressed several systemic security problems at major airports; (2) required airport operators to install computer-controlled identification systems for access to restricted areas; and (3) increased the penalties on carriers for screening system failures.