AVIATION
INFLIGHT SECURITY: ARE HIJACKINGS NOW PASSÉ? T
he hijacking of aircraft may seem to be somewhat passé; they are certainly not as commonplace as they were in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Blank Panthers no longer seize aircraft and divert them to Cuba; Palestinian revolutionary groups have realised that their actions did little to engender support for their cause; and, even those lone asylum-seeking individuals wishing to hijack aircraft in order to reach pastures greener now recognise that there are easier ways to achieve their goals. The act of hijacking – whilst never laudable – was brought into further disrepute by the suicidal acts perpetrated by 19 hijackers on 11 September 2001. Those who might have hijacked aircraft to make a political point, secure the release of imprisoned colleagues or obtain funding, no longer wished to be seen in the same vein as those who had wrought devastation on population centres. Can we claim success in terms of protecting aircraft from inflight attacks perpetrated by those on board? The simple answer is ‘yes’….to a certain extent! The
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COUNTER TERROR BUSINESS MAGAZINE | ISSUE 50
array of technologies we are currently deploying at airport security checkpoints do enable screeners to identify traditional weaponry and terrorists have realised that they do not need to board aircraft to effect mass casualty incidents; marauding firearms attackers and suicide bombers have demonstrated that they can just as easily target airport terminal buildings without having to worry themselves about being detected during the security process. Yet the aforementioned 9/11 attacks also illustrate the perils of complacency and the preparedness for those who still view the seizure of aircraft as a means to create maximum fear to conjure up new attack methodologies. If we consider the post9/11 environment, weapons and explosives have been infiltrated onto aircraft in very creative ways. Most notably, Richard Reid concealed his explosive device in his shoes, whilst Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab opted for to use his underwear. Less well known, in August 2004 two Chechen ‘black widows’ targeted two Russian airliners departing Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport with IEDs, E