Airport Security a Joke? A Look Behind the Scenes

Tired of all that intrusive airport screening before you board your flight. Wait until you see the gaping security holes on the other side of the airport.

For instance, at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, an intruder casually strolled across the tarmac and surprised a gate agent by entering from the secure side of a terminal door.

And at Virginia's Dulles Airport, a skateboarder crawled under a security fence and rode away.

Also in Detroit, a woman sneaked through a vehicle gate and ran towards a hangar with three knives before police apprehended her.

"I worry every single day about the vulnerabilities that exist at a large airport like this and where those could be exploited," Patrick Gannon, chief of police at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), said.

An investigation by the Associated Press found that over the past decade nearly 300 people have trespassed on what are supposed to be secure airport areas.

And they looked only at the nation's largest airports. The AP suspects the total national number of airport intrusions is much higher.

Some of the trespassers are mentally ill, like Christopher McGrath. He got over fences at LAX multiple times in one year, trying to board a flight. He was finally sent for psychiatric evaluation in federal prison.

"You're asking yourself how did that happen? Why did it happen and what can be done to prevent it in the future?" Gannon said.

All major airports have security crews patrolling perimeters, but some lawmakers say more needs to be done.

"It's a matter of increasing personnel we have on the ground, which is going to be imperfect, or it's a matter of making an investment in technology," Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said.

But even the latest technology may not be able to stop every intruder, every time.

"There's nothing that can't be penetrated. The White House has had that issue also," Gannon said.

Officials are worried that if airport perimeter security isn't fixed, all that annoying, expensive, intrusive screening of airport passengers won't prevent an attack.