How Does a Guy Smuggle a Gas Can into a Secure Air Traffic Control Facility?

Sen. Dick Durbin says security precautions at air-traffic control facilities will need to be tightened in the wake of a fire intentionally set by an employee that continues to disrupt air travel.

Brian Howard, 36, of Naperville, an employee of Harris Corp., smuggled a gas can into the Aurora air traffic control building in a suitcase on Friday and set the fire, according to authorities, as part of a dramatic suicide gesture in which he stabbed himself.

“I’m asking the inspector general to take a look at this and ask the hard questions — was the vetting sufficient?” Durbin said on Sunday.

On Monday, Howard appeared in federal court and was ordered held without bail.

“On Friday morning, Brian [Howard] tried to take his life. That he did so in a way that inconvenienced . . . many, many people is unacceptable and he deeply regrets that,” said attorney Ron Safer outside court. “He made a tragic mistake in the course of trying to end his own life ...”

Did Harris Corp. suspect something was amiss with Howard, who worked for Harris at the Aurora facility for eight years?

The FAA is “going to look into it more deeply to see if Harris knew or should have known that there was something unusual here,” Durbin said.

Beyond that, security measures will need to be examined.

Related: Naperville Man Charged In FAA Arson Left Suicidal Facebook Message, FBI Says

Durbin said he wonders how Howard could walk around with a suitcase and not arouse curiosity.

“A couple of things come to mind: First, inspecting whatever the employees bring in, even if they have security clearance going in and secondly, making sure that in critical positions, like the one where he was posted, there are two people. Not one, but two people,” Durbin said. “Now I know that’s more expense, but look at the expense associated with this disaster.”

Two dozen racks of computers and cabling was damaged in the fire, which caused radar scopes at the Chicago traffic control center to go dark. Thousands of flights have been disrupted and cancelled, and the cancellations continue today.

“The damage to this critical facility is unlike anything we have seen before,” Paul Rinaldi, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association told the Chicago Tribune.

Howard faces up to 20 years in prison.