Fake passes spark concern

Case of copied airport security pass may not be unique

A former Air Canada flight attendant has apologized in writing for making a photocopy of his airport security pass.

But the incident which sparked a police investigation has led to some further concerns about airport security.

As first revealed in The Richmond Review last Thursday, a group of four or five men in their early 20s went to the local Kinko’s photocopying outlet last month to photocopy a restricted area pass.

The pass grants access to secure regions of the Vancouver International Airport.

An alert Kinko employee spotted what the men were trying to do and contacted Vancouver International Airport Authority which then phoned police.

The former Air Canada employee, identified in an Aug. 10 search warrant filed at Richmond Provincial Court as Ching-Ling Wu, has since been contacted by the Richmond RCMP and handed over the photocopied pass.

Richmond RCMP Const. Peter Thiessen said Wu explained that he made the colour laminated photocopy to keep as a souvenir. Wu no longer lives in Canada but sent the police a long letter of apology.

Thiessen pointed out that the photocopied pass would not have allowed an employee to open a secure door—since the photocopied version lacked the required magnetic strip—but it was enough to get them into other areas where the pass is only visually checked.

If an original pass were to get into the wrong hands, and the picture altered, that could pose a security risk for the airport, Thiessen said.

“The pass for all intents and purposes looks valid,” he said.

Airport security have in the past apparently allowed other airport personnel access to secure regions using photocopied versions of their passes, Thiessen said.

Police consider the case closed and are not recommending charges.

However, information from the investigation has generated some concern about how frequently this is happening—especially in light of the sensitive nature of airport security following last week’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.

Thiessen said police were informed during their investigation that other employees may have also photocopied their security passes in the event they forgot the original at home.

“It does open up a bigger issue,” Thiessen said. “If it’s occurring here, where else in the country may it be occurring?

“Maybe...these passes need to be made in a way that they can’t be photocopied.”

Investigators have forwarded recommendations to RCMP headquarters in Ottawa who learned of the local investigation after the story was picked up by a Vancouver daily newspaper, Thiessen said.

He believes those recommendations will eventually be delivered to Transport Canada.