Whistleblower faults U.S. agency for lax airport screening

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. agency that screens passengers for explosives and weapons at airport checkpoints has been handing out passes for expedited screening "like Halloween candy," a whistleblower told a U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday.

Becky Roering, a security official at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, testified about the "PreCheck" program run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

The Senate hearing was interrupted by a bomb threat, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Under PreCheck, begun in 2011, travelers can get low-risk status for expedited U.S. screening, exempting them from, for instance, removing their shoes or opening their laptops.

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