Dernek threatened the safety of passengers: Security incident in the Tivat airport building

A serious security incident occurred at Tivat Airport on the night of September 21-22, because a private birthday party was held in the terminal building.

It was attended by several persons who should not have been there outside the official working hours of the Tivat airport, if the valid security procedure had been followed.

In addition, during the party that lasted almost until two in the morning, some bags with unknown contents were brought into that security-sensitive zone by the participants of the unauthorized party. This was confirmed by "News" from several sources close to the management of Tivat Airport and the top of Airport Montenegro (ACG). In addition, the "Vijesti" journalist also saw video footage from this party.

Airport security experts whom we consulted on this occasion and who did not want their identities to be revealed in the media, agree that what happened 15 days ago at the Tivat airport was unacceptable and could endanger the security of the airport and people who use it.

According to the knowledge of our newspaper, on September 1, part of the employees in the catering facility at Terminal 21 of Tivat Airport asked the authorities at that airport for permission to stay in the terminal building even after the official working hours of the airport, allegedly due to work needs. According to the security procedure, everyone who works there leaves the terminal at the end of working hours, the building is inspected, locked and, under the supervision of the on-duty members of the Airport Security Service and the police because it is an international border crossing zone, the terminal remains empty and locked until the next morning when is reviewed again before passengers arrive and regular passenger and aircraft pick-up and drop-off activities begin.

"Employees in the catering facility, which is not managed by ACG but is leased, expressed the need to stay after the end of official working hours and stay for a shorter time due to the needs of their work, which was approved by the ACG security coordinator. However, it turned out that it was not a question of any business need of the tenant of the catering facility in Terminal 1 of the Tivat airport, but this turned into an unauthorized gathering, i.e. a birthday party which, according to security camera footage, was attended by a large number of people, many of whom subsequently came and entered the terminal. This scandal, unacceptable from a security point of view for an international airport such as Tivat, lasted until around two o'clock in the morning, with loud music and noisy celebrations, as if it were a private house or a rented tavern, and not a strictly controlled and monitored facility of of state importance, such as the airport terminal", said one of the interlocutors of "Vijesti", who insisted on anonymity.

According to him, the member of the airport security service on duty that evening immediately contacted his superiors, who allegedly told him that everything was fine and that they had previously approved the retention of the workers of the catering facility in the terminal building outside of working hours.

"It is especially scandalous that, if the Airport Security Service had not already taken action, such an inadmissible incident was not stopped and the Police Directorate immediately reacted to it, because it is a matter of the immediate contact zone of the international border crossing at Tivat Airport, which is under a special security regime", points out the interlocutor of "Vijesti" ” adding that according to his knowledge, there were several foreign nationals among those gathered that evening in the part of the terminal building where the restaurant was located. The "Vijesti" journalist had the opportunity to watch a part of the footage recorded by surveillance cameras in the terminal building that evening, where the presence of numerous people can be seen in the area, which would then have to be empty, locked and under security. The video shows several people who brought several bags with unknown contents into the terminal.

"Bags are brought into the part of the terminal which, admittedly, is not the so-called a safely sterile zone, but it is its immediate contact zone. This is due to what is happening in the catering facility, a small part of which enters the safety sterile zone, while one of the rooms of this catering facility is only separated by a thin plaster wall from a very sensitive room where part of the equipment of the Airport Security Service for the counter diversion control of passengers and baggage. From the point of view of breach of security, this is a scandal equal to that of digging tunnels and breaking into the depot of the High Court in Podgorica," another "Vijesti" source points out.

He added that this incident was the subject of discussion the following morning at the collegium meeting with the director of Tivat Airport Vladimir Praščević, but with the exception of a few people, the rest of the gathered managers tried to minimize the seriousness of such an omission by the competent airport security services and the police.

"Vijesti" contacted ACG regarding this case. The state-owned company officially claims that almost nothing of what the sources of "Vijesti" reported and what the journalist saw on the security camera footage happened.

They explain that "tenants of a space in the public area of ​​Tivat Airport for September 21 properly requested and received permission from the Security Service to stay there after working hours".

"We are talking about a group of seven to ten employees who, in compliance with all safety and security procedures, were under the supervision of the Airport Security Service and officers of the Border Police Station all the time. These persons did not enter the terminal building of the airport, they used their entrance/exit which connects the building with the public area in front of the terminal. There were no foreign nationals among them and no suitcases/bags brought in," the ACG claims.

The police administration is silent about the event

"Vijesti" from the Police Administration of Montenegro did not receive an answer to the questions sent to the Border Police Sector regarding the police knowledge about the identity of the actors of this event, the actions they carried out in the part of the terminal building at the time when it had to be empty and locked, the contents of the bags which persons were brought into the building that evening, and whether the ACG officially reported this incident to the Police Directorate and the Civil Aviation Agency (ACV), which, among other things, is responsible for controlling security at airports.

Krsto Pavićević, the security inspector at the CAA confirmed to "Vijesti" that "no one has reported any incident to the Agency since that date" at Tivat airport. "The agency exclusively deals with issues, that is, incidents that endanger or may endanger the safety of civil aviation. After your questions, we contacted the authorities from the airport security service, who informed us that there was no entry into the terminal building, but that a dozen people were in a rented restaurant in the public area and that there was no violation of the demarcation line, i.e. entry into the security area - the protected zone. Given that the owner of the facility is an airport company, and that the facility is located in a public area, we direct you to contact the authorities from AD Aerodromi Crne Gore", answered Pavićević to the question of what ACV has done regarding this incident.