Reporter Thanh Truong interviews Assistant Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Jason Goff at MSY. (Bruce Milton photo)
Not exactly a newcomer to throwing huge parties, New Orleans can handle a big event. The city hosted 10 Super Bowls before the most recent Super Bowl LIX and notably the first championship game after 9/11 on February 3, 2002. But one of its most famed events, Mardi Gras, has had parades rolling down the streets of New Orleans since 1857.
Nicknamed the city that care forgot, New Orleans locals embrace the notion that you can drop your worries at the city line and pick them up again when you leave. It’s a lighthearted attitude that infuses the music, food and life of the city.
One hundred ninety-five minutes into 2025, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a radicalized, lone wolf terrorist, shattered that care-free spirit by weaponizing a rented truck, running over New Year’s Eve revelers and exchanging in gunfire with local law enforcement on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter.
The attack left 15 people dead, including Jabbar, and at least 57 people injured.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, while officials were still piecing together the terrorist’s motivations and reacting to the event, federal, state and local law enforcement continued their planning for the next two New Orleans Special Event Assessment Rating 1 (SEAR) events: Super Bowl LIX and Mardi Gras. TSA assets, which were initially in the security plan, became increasingly important and kept the nation’s top pigskin party and New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities rolling safely.
“Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) conducted weekly (Super Bowl) meetings with local leadership and TSA’s Domestic Aviation Operations to discuss available resources in support of Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR), Surface Operations and MSY screening which included 100 extra officers from the National Deployment Office (NDO), three additional Transportation Security Specialists – Explosives and additional canine teams,” said Arden Hudson, Louisiana’s Federal Security Director (FSD).
Accustomed to large conventions and year-round tourists, MSY’s staff is experienced in handling oversized crowds.
“Preparation was key to the unparalleled efficiency of operations,” said Randy Lundsgaard, Assistant FSD-Screening. “For the Super Bowl, MSY local staff had three shifts, each working 12 hours per shift. Coupled with the NDO support, which was critical to our success, and overlapping shifts, officers were able to break often while keeping all equipment staffed and operational.”
TSA’s assets securing rail, river and event venues
The National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program worked a week and a half prior to game day, conducting initial sweeps at the Caesars Superdome and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with over 50 canine teams from Hawaii to Baltimore and Puerto Rico to Alaska. Once the initial sweeps were complete, 24-hour searches were in effect until after the end of the Super Bowl. Searches of vehicles, parcels, people and unattended items were conducted on a regular basis.
For the NDO, the back-to-back SEAR 1 events were just another day at the office. This year’s Super Bowl force was about four times larger than last year’s deployment.
“Besides augmenting screening at MSY, duties expanded to include security screening support on site at Super Bowl venues in partnership with the Secret Service,” explained NDO Area Coordinator George Dechon.
“The pivot from Super Bowl to Mardi Gras was seamless,” said Jason Sims, another NDO Area Coordinator. “That’s a testament to the exceptional flexibility of our officers and strong collaboration with local TSA leadership.”
“Being part of the National Deployment Force means stepping up when duty calls, and Mardi Gras 2025 was no exception,” said NDF Lead Officer Michael Bascombe. “The collaboration between our NDF officers and the home team was outstanding, ensuring that the traveling public could move safely and efficiently through the airport.”
At the request of DHS and the City of New Orleans, theLaw Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (LE/FAMS) Houston Field Office provided law enforcement support for Mardi Gras. Houston dedicated two VIPR teams along with seven Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) (drones) FAMs from February 28 to March 5.
"Once again, LE/FAMS demonstrated their technical proficiency and people skills while detecting and responding to dozens of drone incursions during Mardi Gras,” said LE/FAMS Houston Field Office Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Noel Curtin. “The C-UAS team quickly became the subject matter experts with our federal, state and local partners to ensure the traveling public were protected during this SEAR 1 level event.”
By the numbers
MSY screened 144,193 passengers in the seven days after Super Bowl, the largest of which was the day after the big game when 21,952 bags were screened, 5,219 of which alarmed and 478 were searched. Mardi Gras passenger screening was close to 200,000.
The Houston VIPR teams completed 11 deployments during the Mardi Gras assignment, protecting MSY, the Amtrak and Greyhound terminal, New Orleans streetcars at the Mississippi River and the ferry system across the river that links the east and west banks of the city.
The Houston Field Office C-UAS team deployed in coordination with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana State Police, the New Orleans Police Department and Federal Aviation Administration. Staffing the command center, the team also provided three C-UAS response teams strategically placed around the city to locate drone operators violating the temporary flight restriction during parades. They detected 135 drone incursions, with 36 positive contacts and field interviews with operators.
“New Orleans is a resilient city so it’s no surprise we were able to overcome the horrific Bourbon Street attack, a historic snowstorm and still prepare and execute an almost flawless Super Bowl and Mardi Gras exodus,” said Hudson.
Along with other federal, state and local uniformed law enforcement presence, TSA’s assets provided visitors and locals with a sense of safety, something the party hardy crowds appreciated.
When the police sirens blared out during Mardi Gras, paradegoers knew that meant the lead floats were just down the block, and fun was on the way. They felt safe enough to leave their worries behind in the city that care forgot.
By Karen Robicheaux, Strategic Communications & Public Affairs