The chief of the Transportation Security Administration at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport was placed on administrative leave yesterday after being charged with drunken driving while he was on duty for a New Year’s Eve Code Orange alert, the Washington Post reports.
Acting security director Charles Brady was pulled over about 1 a.m. by a poice officer who saw him driving erratically on a nearby highweay. Brady, 49, was released from jail at 1 p.m. yesterday.
On a night considered at particular risk of terrorism, with extraordinary security actions in place across the country, Brady was supposed to be at his airport post until 2 a.m. “Obviously it was New Year’s, and obviously it was not only a chance to practice but to be on site during the holiday to make sure everything goes smoothly,” said TSA spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said. Asked who was in charge at the airport at 2 a.m., she replied, “I couldn’t tell you.”
Brady was arrested shortly after the final passengers from a British Airways plane detained because of security concerns were released from interviews at Dulles. Flight 223, en route from London Heathrow Airport with 247 passengers, had landed just after 7 p.m. Wednesday and was directed to a remote area, where baggage was searched and the plane inspected.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48173-2004Jan1.html