Despite an e-mail he sent over a month ago to the Transportation Security Administration alerting authorities of his actions, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro was charged Monday with a federal crime for allegedly carrying prohibited items onto a number of passenger airliners to test airport security.
Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, smuggled illegal materials--including boxcutters, bleach, matches and clay models of explosives--onto six Southwest Airlines flights at both the Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington international airports between Feb. 7 and Sept. 14.
SWA employees discovered hidden plastic bags containing these materials in airplane lavatories during maintenance operations at airports in Houston and New Orleans Oct. 16. The bags also held notes signed "3891925"--the reverse of Heatwole's birth date, 5-29-1983.
James Loy, TSA administrator admiral, said authorities responded quickly once the packets were found. All 385 airplanes in the SWA fleet were searched, and TSA inspections were stepped-up on the roughly 7,000 commercial planes in the US until authorities were able to trace the packets back to Heatwole.
"The TSA and FBI immediately initiated an investigation and took actions to address security concerns," Loy said in a released statement. "TSA quickly began a database search and linked the situation to an e-mail received by the TSA's Contact Center last month."
Reportedly, the TSA received Heatwole's e-mail Sept. 15 but did not send it to the FBI until five weeks later when the packets were discovered. According to an FBI affidavit, the e-mail was titled "Information Regarding 6 Recent Security Breaches" and provided details about where Heatwole had hidden the smuggled items following two Sept. flights. Heatwole also included his name and telephone number in the message.
Heatwole made the statement in his e-mail that he intended to commit an "act of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air-traveling public" when he carried the prohibited items through airport security and hid them on board the planes.
Despite Heatwole's alleged intentions, some federal officials consider his actions reprehensible.
"This was not a prank," U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio said in a statement to the press. "It was not a civil action. It was a very serious and foolish action."
Other national leaders, however, do not think that Heatwole should be prosecuted for his actions.
"I don't think he had criminal intent," said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "I think what he was trying to do was to show how exposed we are and what our vulnerability was."
Heatwole's actions have raised questions about the effectiveness of TSA regulations and inspections. The TSA was created after Sept. 11 as a part of the new Department of Homeland Security. It took over airport security in Feb. 2002. Since then, over 7.5 million prohibited items have been apprehended by TSA security in airports. However, Congressional investigators reported in September that undercover agents carrying illegal materials frequently elude TSA screeners in airports.
Officials at RDU believe that despite these reports and Heatwole's ability to slip past screeners, the TSA's safety measures are strong.
"In the past two years, great strides have been made in aviation security," said Mindy Hamlin, communications director for RDU. "The important thing to understand is that while this was an unfortunate incident, each month the TSA screeners discover over 4,000 prohibited items. Because this gentleman got through does not mean that everything can get through. This was just an aberration in the system."
Concerning such aberrations, Hamlin said she is confident that the TSA will continue to examine their inspection measures to remedy existing problems as best it can.
"They are looking at their processes to see what needs to be improved," she said. "But no system is 100 percent efficient."
As a result of Heatwole's successful evasion of federal security, DHS Secretary Tom Ridge has pledged that authorities "will go back and look at our protocol" for handling e-mails. He also said that officials determined Heatwole's e-mail "wasn't an imminent threat" after receiving it.
Heatwole, a native of Damascus, Md., and self-professed pacifist, was released without bail in Baltimore by U.S. Magistrate Susan Gauvey. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Gauvey set a preliminary hearing for Nov. 10.
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