India's major airports unsafe: Bureau of Civil Aviation Security

Next time you board a flight after going through stringent airport checks, do not believe the aircraft is sanitised and safe. Security at the cargo entry point is lax.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has found that while passenger entry points at the domestic terminals of the country’s major airports are under almost impenetrable security cover, the cargo points allow more or less free access to anyone. Cargo points at international terminals have relatively better security.

Inspectors from the BCAS — an agency under the civil aviation ministry — walked into supposedly high-security cargo zones of some airports in the early hours without being asked for identity cards. Sealed cargo is loaded on to  aircraft directly from these zones.

“The cargo section should have security equalling that of passenger entry points. Cargo reaches the section sealed after checks. If the entry of visitors is not restricted, someone can easily put a time-bomb in a cargo packet or box,” a BCAS official said.  

The BCAS has asked airport authorities and the Central Industrial Security Force to look into the lapse.