Access Control
& Security Systems

The Associated Press reported three Northwest Airlines employees intentionally breached a security checkpoint at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix as flights resumed Thursday.

Two ground crew employees cleared the checkpoint with a pocketknife and a corkscrew while a pilot passed without proper identification, airport spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.

"Once they did that, they turned around and said, 'Hey, look what we did,'" she told The AP.

Their point: to show that security gaps still exist days after terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Airport officials evacuated the terminal's north concourse and swept it for dangerous materials. Nothing was found and the concourse was reopened. Luber said she did not know what happened to the three employees.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Madelyn Sawyer said it was investigating the actions of the airline employees and of the security workers.

Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Shubert said: ``We are concerned about these reports, and we plan to cooperate thoroughly with the airport authorities and take appropriate action.''

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