Missing: More than 100 FAA Badges
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: NBC
Our federal government insists that it does its 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 said, "The FAA badge, of all the badges, is probably the most dangerous of any other."
An investigation reveals over the past 5 years, 112 Federal Aviation Administration inspector badges have been lost or stolen.
Kelly said, "With that badge you can get in the cockpit in flight."
A former commercial pilot and now a private investigator, Kelly points out those FAA badges can give a person free and uninterrupted access to nearly every secure area of an airport. "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 reports 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 an on camera interview, and when pressed over the phone, a spokesman could not guarantee FAA badge holders always go through security check points.
