Chaos during a labour dispute at Calgary Airport caused a serious breach in security last December, the CBC has learned, when a rushed airline manager let 30 pieces of luggage fly to Houston without the owners on board.

Internal documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Transport Canada is investigating the incident — a direct violation of major international security rules Canada adopted after the 1985 Air India bombings, which killed 329 people.

(CBC)

The only reason dozens of checked bags were allowed to be loaded onto the plane without their owners appears to be bedlam at Calgary Airport during a work-to-rule campaign by airport security screeners.

Amid the pressure to process thousands of impatient holiday travellers facing delays, one Continental Airlines manager allowed the 30 bags to fly to Texas even though the owners were not on the same aircraft.

Continental Airlines has since issued an apology for its mistake on the ground.

But in a scathing letter to the government agency in charge of security, Garth Atkinson, president of Calgary's Airport Authority, called the pre-flight screening out of Calgary "the absolute worst in Canada."

'Would have stopped the Air India explosion'

Peter St. John, an international security expert who has written several books dealing with the topics of aviation, terrorism and hijackings, was also appalled upon hearing about the alleged slip-up.

"This is the key that would have stopped the Air India explosion," he said. "It is really important that there be a complete connection between every passenger and every piece of luggage in a plane."

The news outraged Senator Colin Kenny, who heads the Senate's national security and defence committee. He pointed to the incident as yet another example of poor security at Canada's airports.

'Fire Transport Canada'

"The back door is wide open because the people who work on the ramp can bring anything in their duffle bag, athletic bags, lunch pail, brought through without being screened," Kenny said.

"Fire Transport Canada. Get them off the job and give it over to public safety," he urged.

Transport Canada's regional manager of security operations, Ken Yuel, insists the public was never in any danger because it has "a layered effect of security."

"We have redundancy built in with layers; security is effective even if there's a failure in one," he said, adding the investigation should be complete in about two weeks.

News of the security breach comes as the Senate committee on national security and defence prepares to release a report Wednesday recommending ways to improve airport security in Canada.