US Airport Checks Miss 95% Of Fake Weapons

The head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the US government agency in charge of airport security, has been reassigned after glaring lapses were exposed by undercover tests.

Checkpoint screeners failed to detect mock explosives and weapons in 95% of tests carried out by agents posing as passengers.

ABC News reported that the agents were able to smuggle banned weapons in 67 of 70 tests at dozens of airports.

In one test, TSA screeners failed to find a fake bomb taped to an undercover agent's back when they patted him down after he set off an alarm at a checkpoint.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he would not discuss the results of the classified report by his department's inspector general.

But he has directed the agency to revise airport security procedures, retrain officers and retest screening equipment in US airports.

Mr Johnson said he was reassigning TSA acting administrator Melvin Carraway "effective immediately" to a different job in the Department of Homeland Security.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, Mr Johnson said: "The numbers in these reports never look good out of context, but they are a critical element in the continual evolution of our aviation security."

The outgoing TSA chief's deputy will lead the agency until a new acting administrator is appointed, Mr Johnson said.

President Barack Obama has nominated Coast Guard Vice Admiral Pete Neffenger to be the agency's next leader.