Summary

We issued a report to the FAA and the Department regarding physical security of FAA facilities and the Department's headquarters building. We examined the: (1) security processes and standards applied to FAA facilities; (2) access controls to FAA's staffed National Airspace System (NAS) critical facilities; and (3) security at FAA staffed facilities to ensure that contract security guards meet FAA's requirements for security training, weapons qualification, and background checks.

As a result of our initial testing of the access controls at the two FAA Headquarters buildings and the fact that the same company provides security services at FAA and the Department's headquarters buildings, the Department asked that we include the Department's Headquarters building in our testing and security guard review.

We made specific recommendations to strengthen physical security over FAA facilities and DOT Headquarters buildings. FAA and DOT management generally agreed our findings and has taken steps to strengthen existing access controls and to accelerate and complete security upgrades on the most mission critical facilities.

The Department of Transportation has determined that this report contains Sensitive Security Information (SSI) as defined by 49 CFR Part 1520. Accordingly, it is not available for public inspection or copying. The regulations provide that, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act, should a document contain both SSI and non-SSI information, the Department may disclose the document with the SSI information redacted, as long as this information is not otherwise exempt from disclosure under FOIA or the Privacy Act.