Nearly 22 years ago, TSA was born to keep bombs, guns and other dangerous items off planes, and over the last two decades, the agency has developed close partnerships with local and state police to do just that.
One relationship that’s flourished is TSA’s connection with South Florida’s Miami-Dade Police Bomb Squad.
TSA explosives experts hosted the Miami-Dade Bomb Squad for an improvised explosive device (IED) exercise onboard a large airplane at Miami International Airport (MIA). The goal was for both groups to further hone their skills and evaluate their equipment.
“Our partnerships are extremely important, which enable us to conduct regular training exercises and allow us to build a stronger relationship should that time come to respond to an actual event,” MIA Transportation Security Specialist-Explosives (TSS-E) Supervisor Julio Carrasco said. “The bomb squad serves as our primary response team to MIA.”
The exercise had two parts. After getting a briefing from TSA explosives expert Scott Dickson, bomb squad teams practiced their response to potential explosive devices concealed in a carry-on bag in the main cabin area of a jet and a checked bag in the luggage compartment.
This allowed multiple two-man teams to work simultaneously and maximize their training time.
“This exercise was designed to familiarize, orient and train members of the Miami-Dade Police Bomb Squad to the unique environment of commercial aviation,” described Dickson. “The training also gave us the opportunity to introduce newer bomb technicians to least risk bomb location procedures and work through those procedures as a real-life event.”
Dickson called the training exercise “highly successful.”
“The bomb squad teams were able to grow their knowledge of the aviation environment and procedures, test and evaluate new equipment and hone their skills,” Dickson said. “Continued training across all modes of transportation is key to being proficient and ready to respond.”
Carrasco and his MIA TSS-E team were deeply grateful to American Airlines, another key TSA partner, for offering one of their jets for the exercise.
“Team TSA MIA would like to thank the American Airlines Maintenance Department for providing us with the operational aircraft to conduct this joint interoperability exercise,” said Carrasco.
“I am extremely pleased with the training activities that have been conducted by our local bomb squad and TSS-Es,” Carrasco added. “It demonstrates our commitment to the TSA mission, providing exemplary security and freedom of movement to the community we serve.”
By Don Wagner, TSA Strategic Communications & Public Affairs