An apparent thwarted attack at the world’s busiest airport highlights ongoing security risks

By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — Moments after receiving a report of a man who threatened to shoot up the world’s busiest airport while livestreaming, Atlanta Police Officer Myesha Banks spotted a man matching his description in the crowd.

His eyes scanned the ticketing area and the security checkpoint.

Banks’ training kicked in. She approached the 350-pound man who towered over her and arrested him – thwarting what police said was a planned attack at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, police said.

Banks on Monday apprehended Billy Joe Cagle, whose family alerted law enforcement that he was armed and headed to the airport to “shoot it up,” police said.

The quick and thoughtful actions of the suspect’s family and authorities were lauded by experts and officials alike. Still, the incident highlights vulnerabilities in airport security, especially in crowded areas not overseen by TSA officers.

Cagle is facing charges of terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assaults, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He was also charged with several federal counts: attempted violence at an international airport, interstate communications containing threats to injure and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said on Tuesday.

Cagle is from Cartersville, about an hour away from Atlanta, and a family member then drove to the police department and alerted authorities that he was armed and on his way to the airport.

After receiving a description of Cagle and his vehicle, Atlanta Police Sgt. Tywana Jones communicated the details to the team at the airport.

Inside his vehicle parked in the departure area of the airport, police found an “AR-15 assault rifle” and a magazine with more than two dozen rounds, police said.

“My heart was beating fast. I’m like, OK, I haven’t heard any gunshots, anything go off. So, you know, we’re good right now. Let’s just get that information out to prevent that,” said Jones, who is six months away from retiring from the Atlanta Police Department with 30 years under her belt.

“The tragedies that we’ve seen play out across our nation didn’t happen here,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Tuesday.

With more than 108 million people flying through in 2024, Hartsfield-Jackson is the world’s busiest airport.

Airport public areas remain vulnerable

“Public areas of airports are still vulnerable; they’re still at risk. And if someone is looking for large groups of people, ticket counters, the lobby areas, the garages, the bag claims, they are not defended by the TSA,” said Mary Schiavo, CNN transportation analyst and former inspector general for the US Department of Transportation.

Enhanced security, like vehicle inspections, were in place after September 11, Schiavo said. Those strict security measures slowed down traffic and travelers and likely would not be welcome again.

“Nobody liked it, but it certainly added security,” Schiavo said.

She added that the measures could be reinstated if similar incidents like the Atlanta case occur again.

Schiavo praised the suspect’s family for coming forward and preventing a potentially significant attack.

“They not only saved innocent travelers’ lives, they most likely saved their relative’s life because he would have been gunned down,” she said. “There’s lots of cameras and security at the airport that could have responded very quickly. He wouldn’t have made it out. So the family obviously really did a life-saving measure.”

Heightened security could have made a difference in an attack playing out, too, Schiavo said.

“Checking the cars and checking the bags, the physical security, is what would have made a difference here, if the horrible thing had unfolded … thank God the family called in time.”

Barriers could help

Monday’s apparent thwarted attack will be studied by airport personnel as a success story, according to Keith Jeffries, a former federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport, who spoke to CNN.

“The communication capability from family to law enforcement and how quick they reacted, that’s tremendous,” Jeffries said. “The fact that the Atlanta Police Department, airport police, responded like they did, that was an exceptional work, to put it mildly”.

However, having cars idle outside terminals or leaving a car behind, such as what happened during Monday’s incident, does present a security risk, Jeffries said.

Having barriers, even decorative ones, just outside airport doors could help with that, Jeffries added.

“Anytime there’s a large crowd, if someone has bad intentions and wants to make whatever statement or use violence against crowds, that’s a relatively simple thing to do where there’s a crowded area,” Jeffries said. “Putting those barriers in place will help those vehicles from driving straight into an airport, into a crowd … It serves as a bollard to prevent vehicles from pulling up in there.”

Jeffries, who now serves as the vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, indicated that new technologies might not be the answer to bolster security at airports, unless there’s a machine that can read people’s minds. “That, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist,” he noted.

Sometimes all you need is more boots on the ground, like around major travel holidays, he said.

“Having a good overt presence, everyone staying alert, being on the lookout. And I think what this is going to do as we approach an even busier season, as Thanksgiving gets closer, I think this message is going to spread like wildfire to all the airports of the value of good communication,” Jeffries said. “This is going to be a great case study for airports to coordinate with the Atlanta Airport on something that went extremely well. Too many times are we studying things that went horribly wrong and learning from that.”

It’s also imperative for travelers to stay alert, calm and vigilant.

“You also need to calm down, pause, and be very aware of your entire domain awareness, what’s going on around you, because at any given point in time, an emergency can occur of some sort, and always just be prepared,” Jeffries said.

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