Security Breach at MEL

[TheInsider]

Reports are coming in on Twitter and ABC that there is/was a security breach at MEL T1.

Anyone have any news or is there at the moment?

I'm thinking another situation where a QF Link flight has come in and didn't get taken through the security process.

 

[markis10]

Nope, apparently entry to the sterile area from the baggage collection hall:

Qantas terminal evacuated over security breach

Qantas terminal evacuated over security breach

The Qantas domestic terminal at Melbourne airport is being evacuated over a security breach, throwing morning commuting into chaos for thousands of passengers.
A person, believed to be a man, entered the "sterile" area of the terminal via the exit doors from the baggage collection area.
Qantas spokesman Thomas Woodward said the man was spotted on closed circuit TV entering through the out door but security staff watching monitors lost track of him once inside the terminal.

 

[jdlover23]

I just landed and we have no where to dock (as no planes r allowed to take off evidently) so just going to hang out at the end of the runway until resolved

 

[anat0l]

Whoever caused this breach should be hurt in some measurable shape or form. :evil:

Fancy some idiot causing a disruption to thousands of passengers. (Mind you, the idiot could be from QF or JQ, so they are not immediately not guilty).

 

[jdlover23]

Still on the Tarmac....

 

[oz_mark]

Whoever caused this breach should be hurt in some measurable shape or form. :evil:

Fancy some idiot causing a disruption to thousands of passengers. (Mind you, the idiot could be from QF or JQ, so they are not immediately not guilty).

It was a passenger apparently. Perhaps the issue is lax security procedures from QF.

 

[burrco]

I don't understand how a passenger can just walk through the wrong door. It can't be that hard to have doors leading to the sterile area needing a keycard for access?

 

[TheInsider]

I don't understand how a passenger can just walk through the wrong door. It can't be that hard to have doors leading to the sterile area needing a keycard for access?

Generally for those doors at MEL. If a person steps backwards/stops movement in those glass ways the door closest to airside shuts and an alarm starts going off. In my experience i've ALWAYS seen a security guard at these doors?

 

[rtyuiop]

Whoever caused this breach should be hurt in some measurable shape or form. :evil:

Fancy some idiot causing a disruption to thousands of passengers. (Mind you, the idiot could be from QF or JQ, so they are not immediately not guilty).

As a security person (admittedly information security, not physical!), my thinking is that the building setup or procedures that allowed it to happen are what's at fault... If you let people do something, sooner or later someone's going to do it (either out of malice, stupidity, or carelessness, it doesn't matter) - this sounds like a complete failure of security, if they lost track of the person who went through the door...

Danny

 

[dfcatch]

Generally for those doors at MEL. If a person steps backwards/stops movement in those glass ways the door closest to airside shuts and an alarm starts going off. In my experience i've ALWAYS seen a security guard at these doors?

Yes that's my recollection as well

 

[serfty]

Generally for those doors at MEL. If a person steps backwards/stops movement in those glass ways the door closest to airside shuts and an alarm starts going off. In my experience i've ALWAYS seen a security guard at these doors?

For quite some time, only the outer doors appear to have been working. It would not be hard to do.

 

[burrco]

Generally for those doors at MEL. If a person steps backwards/stops movement in those glass ways the door closest to airside shuts and an alarm starts going off. In my experience i've ALWAYS seen a security guard at these doors?

I assumed it was some other door - but agree I've always seen a guard at the glass doors - at the QANTAS side anyway (never flown VB into MEL).

 

[jdlover23]

There's someone standing there now  which I said to a JQ FA as we walked down the stairs towards said doors...she just smirked

 

[markis10]

I assumed it was some other door - but agree I've always seen a guard at the glass doors - at the QANTAS side anyway (never flown VB into MEL).

I think it was, like the door to the canteen or somehow got through to the baggage area. QF have consistently shown a poor attitude/capability/response to security matters with recent incidents such as not being able to capture at murder on their CCTV in Sydney or my laptop theft from the MEL QP.

 

[TheInsider]

I assumed it was some other door - but agree I've always seen a guard at the glass doors - at the QANTAS side anyway (never flown VB into MEL).

There arn't any other doos though down in the baggage hall. the only other ones lead to the staff canteen and airside apron.
AFAIK the doors on the valet parking side work, as the 1st doors shut reguraly because people want to go back and wait for someone..

As for the other side of the terminal, they have about 3 turns and atleast 10 cameras. Something doesn't really add up somewhere.

Even for the exit at the departure level, alarms go off and the airside door shuts if people stop or go backwards.

 

[markis10]

There arn't any other doos though down in the baggage hall. the only other ones lead to the staff canteen and airside apron.

Both of those were the ones I was thinking of, especially the canteen, and of course both are sterile areas.

 

[TheInsider]

I think it was, like the door to the canteen or somehow got through to the baggage area. QF have consistently shown a poor attitude/capability/response to security matters with recent incidents such as not being able to capture at murder on their CCTV in Sydney or my laptop theft from the MEL QP.

Can't see it being at the canteen area. After the canteen area you have a guard there who checks your ASIC, even after that you still have to swipe your ASIC past the security office to get onto the apron and baggage area.

 

[TheInsider]

Both of those were the ones I was thinking of, especially the canteen, and of course both are sterile areas.

Canteen not 'sterile' as such. There are no checks at that point, only after the canteen. But usually always atleast one AFP or customs guy in there eating something. Plenty of ramp staff too, who would say something if there was someone there who didn't fit in properly.

 

[serfty]

Since the baggage area was mentioned I have discounted the exit at the North Side of security on the departures level.

It's about 6 metres long and strait; one door opening/closing with a generally bored/distracted looking Security guard in attendance.

 

[openseat]

The Age has the following:

A person, believed to be a man, entered the "sterile" area of the terminal via the exit doors from the baggage collection area about 9.30am today.
"When you get off a flight and exit at the arrivals hall to collect bags, there are three doors, which you go through," Qantas spokesman Thomas Woodward said.
"A passenger has evidently, for whatever reason, gone through one of those doors and obviously hasn't been security screened at all, so unfortunately we're having to bring everyone back out from the secure areas for rescreening."
Mr Woodward said the man was spotted on closed circuit TV entering through the exit but security staff watching monitors lost track of him once inside the terminal.

So it would seem to be not the canteen but one of the main entries. Which raises a lot of questions about what is happening here if the alarms didn't go off.

The TWU is all over this about change of contractors.
'This incident today at Melbourne Airport has been a long time coming,'' said TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon.

"Here we are two years and two weeks later and we have another nightmare in the terminal – when is management going to get off their backsides and fix this situation?" Mr Sheldon said.
He said Qantas's recent change of contractors from Chubb to MSS Security left new staff ''unprepared for the event''.
"In other sections of the Qantas group, this outsourcing of work has lead to lower wages, higher turnover of staff, poor training, no security checks and, as seen in this case, a loss of corporate knowledge every time someone leaves," he said.