Security

Did Moscow's Airport Bombers Dodge Security Checks? [Updated]

Here's how terrorists get past airport security: Don't bother to go through it. According to preliminary reports, a suicide bomber -- possibly two -- killed at least 31 people and wounded about 130 more at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on Monday, all without going through any kind of pat-down or scanner.

Here's how terrorists get past airport security: Don't bother to go through it. According to preliminary reports, a suicide bomber – possibly two – killed at least 31 people and wounded about 130 more at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on Monday, all without going through any kind of pat-down or scanner.

How? Russia's Novosti news service cites eyewitnesses claiming "two terrorists blew themselves up as passengers emerged from the international arrivals zone." If so, then they picked the softest target that airports have: a place where lots of people congregate, in anticipation of their loved ones' arrival, without passing through machines to detect chemicals or metallic objects.

These are early reports; much can change. The security analysis organization Stratfor tweets that the location of the bomb isn't so clear. Admittedly, I've never traveled through Domodedovo; maybe there's a security procedure in the arrivals terminal there I'm not aware of. But the above – video of the aftermath, uploaded to YouTube and noticed by The New York Times (thanks, guys) looks like it's at either an arrival area or a baggage claim.

If Novosti's early account is correct, then the terrorists who carried out the Domodedovo attack have demonstrated that it's not necessary to get an explosive on board an airplane to kill and injure lots of people and throw air travel into turmoil. That's important to consider as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security installs expensive and privacy-infringing "naked scanners" at airport security gates and keeps traveler liquids off of flights.

Terrorists of all affiliations have proven that they'll aim for whatever targets security officials don't or can't harden: In 2004, two Chechen terrorists boarded a plane at Domodedovo, killing 88 passengers in a suicide bombing and prompting airport officials to toughen security measures; now they hit the airports rather than the planes.

There's no claim of attribution yet, though the early speculation surrounds the Islamists from Dagestan who attacked the Moscow metro last year – another double suicide bombing – or the Chechen militants Russia has battled for 15 years.

Novosti further reports that the bomb used in the airport attack was "equal to 5 kg of TNT and that the bomb was packed with metal objects to cause maximum damage" – sounding a lot like many of the homemade bombs that U.S. troops have encountered in Iraq for years.

Update, 9:15 a.m., January 25: Reader PV, a frequent traveler through Moscow's airports, writes:

I have traveled quite a bit from DMD – though not for quite some time. However, as far as I know, all of Moscow's airports have metal detectors and bag scanners at the front doors. The last few years I've traveled through SVO, and they scan your bags and your person right at the entrance point.

Reports out of Moscow that I have seen indicate that the scanners and metal detectors were just turned off that day, with no one manning them. This is pretty common in Russian airports – if there's no one to work the security at the front gate (which is not a security point required in the airlines' contract with the airport, merely a voluntary safety effort on the part of the Russian state security services, from what I understand) they just don't scan people.

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