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New Report Shows Over 260 Security Breaches At Airports

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A report has been released showing more than 260 security breaches of perimeter at some of the nation's busiest airports since 2004.

Jessica Kartalija has a closer look at the numbers.

The highest number of reported incidents was not in Baltimore or Washington DC but by San Francisco International Airport.

A security breach at San Jose International Airport last year made headlines: a 15-year-old boy climbed a fence at the airport, got into a jet's wheel well and survived a nearly six-hour flight to Hawaii---but he's not alone.

The Associated Press reported that since 2004, there were 268 breaches of security perimeters in San Jose and at the nation's 30 biggest airports. Thirty-seven of them were at San Francisco International Airport.

"This is a big deal for us. Perimeter security is very important to our airport. We take this obligation very seriously," said San Francisco International Airport Spokesman Doug Yakel.

Yakel says one of the reasons the number may be particularly high in San Francisco is that the airport counts even small incidents as perimeter breaches. He says there's a security system in place that includes physical barriers, thermal imaging cameras and patrols.

But there are problems at many other airports, including LAX. It's one of seven airports in four states that reported more than half of the breaches. At LAX, a mentally ill man hopped the perimeter fence eight times in less than a year.

At other airports, five people made it onto jets.

Airport officials insist their perimeters are secure but some international airports like Ben Gurion in Israel report no perimeter intrusions.

Only one incident was reported at BWI Marshall from January 2004 to January 2015.

The count of security breaches is likely much higher because two airports had incomplete data and all three of New York's airports and Logan Airport in Boston refused to release any information, citing security concerns.

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