Missing FAA badges (Who Has 'Em? Nod and Wink!)

Missing FAA badges

Thursday, Mar 06, 2008 - 09:03 AM

By NBC News Channel

The federal government insists it does it's best to keep the traveling public safe and secure, but apparently dozens of federal inspectors failed to do that with their own credentials.

Aviation expert Denny Kelly says "the FAA badge of all the badges is probably the most dangerous of any other."

An NBC5 investigation reveals over the past 5 years, 112 FAA aviation inspector badges have been stolen or lost.

Denny Kelly says "with that badge you can get in the cockpit in flight."

Former commercial pilot, now private investigator, Denny Kelly points out those FAA badges can give a person free and uninterrupted access to nearly every secure area of an airport.

Denny Kelly says "the FAA allows you to not only get on one airline and through security it allows you on any airline any airplane anyplace."

The FAA tells us it's concerned but insists the public is not in danger, adding the agency is taking an aggressive stance to prevent the loss of those badges in the future.

The FAA refused our request for an on camera interview, and when pressed over the phone, a spokesman could not guarantee FAA badge holders always go through security check points.

Denny Kelly says "a guy walks up with that and says 'hey I'm FAA, here's my badge' there is nothing they can do about it, 'ok go through'."

More then 100 FAA credentials are now floating around unaccounted leaving travelers unsettled and uneasy.

Traveler Alison Bock says "to think that anyone has access to a cockpit on a plane is particularly scary."

so

[bechthros]

what's the worst case conspiracy scenario? somebody with an faa badge gets onto a passenger plane with that stolen nuke from minot and hits DC?

not worried about those badges so much....

[zogger]

...still wondering what happened to the missing nuke. They reported 6 nukes, then they changed it to five. Just ain't believing that...one is still out there in the hands of some rogue spook group, and the story has vanished down the memory hole.