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Throughout this 10-part series, I’ve addressed the question: Are We Safer since 9/11. When we were attacked on 9/11, I had already served several years in the aviation security industry and I felt I’d not done enough (as many of us did). Part of my mission became to make sure that we weren’t asleep at… Continue Reading
Shortly after 9/11 a 16-year-old boy took a Cessna 172 and flew it into the side of the Bank of America building in Tampa, Florida. Since it was only six months since the terrorist attacks, the hue and cry went up from the largely uneducated (on aviation) public, about what to do about these little… Continue Reading
I missed an important anniversary yesterday – the 25th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing was eventually linked back to the country of Libya, who used operatives working for Libyan Airlines, based in Malta at the time. They placed a radio “boom” box containing an explosive… Continue Reading
TSA says they will study the response to the airport shooting in Los Angeles and how to speed up the notification process. Good deal. So is everyone else in our industry and that’s a good thing. The story is here in USAToday. What I’m seeing in all the post analysis of this issue is… Continue Reading
In some sort of cosmic irony the nation’s aviation security leaders gathered just days after the shooting at Los Angeles international Airport to discuss the topics most important to them. The main topic of discussion however was not LAX. Its just too early. LAX will after-action this incident to the Nth degree and there… Continue Reading
What should you do in an active shooter event? Did LAX do the right thing? Was the evacuation effective? There is a phrase I’ve heard in the aircraft rescue and fire fighting community, in answer to the question, “if you’re in a plane that crash, how far should you run from the scene of… Continue Reading
As more information continues to come out about the incident in Los Angeles, the question I have been getting most today relates to whether TSA screeners should be armed. Well, here’s some insight – there are TSA personnel that are armed. Obviously the air marshals, but also the Assistant Federal Security Director for Law Enforcement.… Continue Reading
I have spent the better part of the day talking to various media outlets about the shooting at Los Angeles international Airport. First, our thoughts go out to the TSA and other personnel who were injured and particularly the Behavior Detection Officer who died in the line of duty, and to the responders, passengers and… Continue Reading
To compare air cargo security prior to 9/11 and post-9/11 is like comparing apples to automobile parts. Airport security has traditionally been focused on protecting the highest value target on the airfield which is the passenger jet. There have been very few attempts to hijack a all cargo aircraft or get a bomb on… Continue Reading
You may have heard recently about the lasing incidents taking place at LaGuardia Airport, and if you haven’t, check this link. Or, if you don’t like checking links, here’s the short version: Several aircraft have been hit with lasers while on approach to LaGuardia and the Joint Terrorism Task Force has been put on the case.… Continue Reading