Some US airports hired 73 people with terror links: Report

Dozens of people with terror links in their backgrounds were hired in sensitive jobs at the United States airports, investigators have found.

According to a new report by the Homeland Security, at least 73 people with “possible terrorism-related information” in their backgrounds were employed by major airlines, airport vendors and other employers.

The report, however, did not identify the employees, their status or what job they held.

Investigators have found thousands of TSA records on workers with possibly incomplete and inaccurate biographic information. It also said the first names or Social Security numbers of those who applied for the jobs at airports were missing in some cases.

By law, the TSA had "limited oversight" over the hiring process and thus "lacked assurance that it properly vetted all credential applicants," the report said.

“TSA acknowledged that these individuals were cleared for access to secure airport areas despite representing a potential transportation security threat,” it added.

The audit also revealed that local criminal background checks at 467 airports were even “less effective” to keep prospective employees with criminal histories and illegal status from getting a job.

The report is released just a week after the agency in charge of US transportation security came under fire for failures in airport security.

Another report by the Department of Homeland Security revealed last week that undercover agents managed to smuggle mock explosives and weapons through 95 percent of the American airport checkpoints.

The report said airport screeners, who are employees of the TSA, failed to detect banned weapons in 67 of 70 tests at dozens of airports.

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