Security screeners at 21 airports across the United States failed to detect bomb-making materials during recent tests by government agents, US officials said Friday, citing a classified report.
"The fact that government investigators were able to pass through TSA's (Transportation Security Administration) screening at 21 major airports with bomb-making material is frightening," Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democratic member of the Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement.
"It's like the story of the Trojan Horse," he added. "TSA has spent so much time telling people to take off their shoes and belts, that they have missed the bomb-making materials."
The tests were conducted between October and January by investigators from the General Accountability Office (GAO) at the request of Representative John Mica, a Republican.
Mica said he was disappointed by a report on the results of the tests.
The report is classified, but has been leaked to a number of media organisations in the United States.
The television network NBC said in all 21 airports tested, "no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through" even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags.
It said the materials smuggled by the investigators were easily available over the counter and could be made into a bomb that could destroy an aircraft.
Democratic Representative Edward Markey, another member of the Committee on Homeland Security, said the report was proof that the administration of President George W. Bush had not taken effective measures to protect key facilities.
"The administration acts like the homeowner who posts a 'Beware of Dog' sign without getting a dog," Markey said in a statement. "It might fool some of the public, but terrorists know what is real and what is not.
"This administration's approach is all bark and no bite, and the United States is left with gaping loopholes in our national security."
A spokeswoman at the Transportation Security Administration downplayed the report telling AFP that at the time the airport tests were conducted, new security measures were being implemented.
"Detecting explosive materials, including IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) at the checkpoint is TSA's top priority," Amy Kudwa told AFP. "We have many independent layers of security that reinforce each other.
"Alone any of these layers can be beaten as the GAO study has demonstrated, but together the security measures are formidable."
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