Summary

In December 1987, 43 people died when a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight crashed after a disgruntled former employee shot the pilots. This tragedy heightened the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) concern about the effectiveness of airport security because the former employee had apparently used airline identification to bypass screening. In January 1989, FAA required that major airports install systems for controlling access to high-security areas where large passenger aircraft are located. These systems are eligible for FAA funding. Airports and airlines have complained that FAA greatly underestimated the costs of access control systems. This report (1) determines how much access controls systems have and will cost and (2) identifies steps that FAA can take to ensure that systems are cost-effective in the future.

GAO found that: (1) FAA greatly underestimated the costs of its access control systems, due to the installation of more expensive equipment; (2) in many airports, FAA approved the installation of equipment in areas that did not need to be secured; (3) 21 major airports had to replace or significantly modify access control systems that did not meet FAA requirements; (4) FAA officials have been unable to ensure that Airport Improvement Program funds have been used only for those system components necessary to meet FAA access control requirements; and (5) FAA could help ensure that access control systems are cost-effective by providing detailed guidance on how systems should function to meet access control requirements.