Passenger not pleased with lack of transparency when man was caught with gun on plane at O'Hare
When a passenger with a gun was pulled from a United Airlines flight at O'Hare International Airport last week, his fellow fliers had questions.
One week later, there were still no answers.
CBS News Chicago has talked with multiple passengers about the incident on Tuesday, April 15. One gave her account of what happened, but more importantly, what didn't — specific security checks that one expert said should have taken place.
Besnik Ismajlaj, 53, of St. Charles, was charged last week with a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm at the airport.
The Transportation Security Administration said officers detected an image of a firearm inside a bag going through Security Checkpoint 2 at Terminal 1 the afternoon of April 15. Before Chicago Police could confiscate the gun, Ismajlaj reached inside the X-ray machine at the checkpoint, took the bag, and left for the gate, the TSA said.
Video showed airport employees making a path down the middle of Terminal 1 as officers ran through. They were searching for Ismajlaj as he was headed to his gate with a gun. He was able to make it onto a United Airlines flight before Chicago Police and TSA officers tracked him down.
Police said they "asked the individual if he knew why the police were on scene… to which the individual responded, 'Yeah, it's in my bag.'" Police said they recovered a loaded 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol in said backpack.
Cindi Coffman was on that flight.
"The pilot kind of joked and said we were on the safest plane leave in Chicago that day," said Coffman, "really didn't even know what that meant."
Coffman watched as four police vehicles pulled up on her side of plane, and a man was taken away in handcuffs by police.
"It kind of just happened so fast that it was more like, what's going on, like what's happening?" said Coffman.
Coffman said staff told passengers to get off the plane and bring their carry-ons, but she said nobody checked their bags or patted them down before they got back on their flight.
"I feel like our lives were in jeopardy. I mean, you don't know this day and age what could happen — and even if he would have had more than one weapon on him, and he would have handed that off to another passenger on the plane?" Coffman said. "We weren't even scanned going back onto the plane."
Transportation expert and DePaul University professor Joe Schwieterman said more action could have been taken when it comes to security.
"You know, I think a reasonable compromise here would have been searching bags — not necessarily emptying bags, but certainly checking bags," he said.
Airline experts said such scenes as the one last week are rare.
O'Hare TSA screeners caught 78 firearms at the checkpoints last year. But again, police said this time, Ismajlaj reached into the X-ray machine and took his bag.
"You know, shaping up to be a stressful summer. I mean, we've had a number of accidents in the industry. Flights are going to go out full. Airlines are having trouble getting new equipment — and that leads to a pressure-cooker environment," Schwieterman said. "We throw in TSA security concerns, you know, it's it all adds up to, I think, going to be some stressful time for flyers."
Coffman said she went through plenty of stress as a flier last week — in large part due to lack of information.
"I certainly don't feel like I should have found out that there was a gun on my plane via Google," she said.
Coffman said she has tried to contact United about the lack of transparency, but has not heard back. She changed her return flight to avoid a connection in O'Hare.
