I was recently on a panel on CNN discussing the latest al Qaeda threat to aviation. In their online publication, Inspire magazine al Qaeda outlined a strategy for how to make a bomb that would get past a screening checkpoint at an airport. In that same week, I fielded about another half dozen media calls… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Crime and Terrorism
Gun Smuggling in Airplanes
A recent report of airline employees smuggling guns through commercial airliners has raised security concerns about the “insider threat.” Read, listen or watch the story here: NPR WSJ Arise America NBC The key question is: is this a threat? While anytime guns are in the cabin of an airplane illegally, we can call that a threat, the real question… Continue Reading
Just how unprepared is the FAA?
On 9/11 the FAA was caught completely off-guard as terrorists took over four aircraft and pulled of the most tragic and devastating attack using aviation in the history of the world. As an agency, the FAA was never in the intelligence loop, did not foresee the significant threat it faced (according to the 9/11 Commission… Continue Reading
Syria and Electronic Device Bombs
As part of the airstrikes into Syria against ISIL the United States also decided to hit some old Al Qaeda friends – apparently these folks were planning to put bombs in electronic devices and smuggle them onto airplanes. Here’s the story along with a short soundbite from me on The Today Show. This brings… Continue Reading
Missing Planes
A recent report in USA Today heightened awareness of the possible theft and use of commercial airliners to attack the United States or other targets. This was followed up with another incident of a general aviation aircraft owned by Larry Glazer, who is prominent in the real estate world that was chased by F-15 fighters when… Continue Reading
Please deposit your phone in the bin
The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that they would require travelers from foreign airports with direct flights to the United States to possibly turn on their cell phones, tablets and laptops in order to prove they are functional and not concealing an explosive. This is not without precedence. In the late 80s and early 90s… Continue Reading
Did you hear about the latest hijackings?
I’m sure you all are very concerned. In fact, I’m sure you’re tired of the public outcry about yet another hijacking, and this time by the copilot of the aircraft. I’m not talking about Malaysia Flight 370. I’m talking about an Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702, bound for Rome, that was hijacked in February 2014 and diverted… Continue Reading
Was Malaysia Flight 370 Hijacked?
U.S. officials now say that manual intervention was involved in the missing flight and Malaysian officials are calling it a hijacking. Some aircraft systems continued to transmit information for several hours after the aircraft went off radar, which may indicate that the transponder (the radio transmitter that provides information to the radar facility), was shut… Continue Reading
Lockerbie: 25 years later
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 reviews emergency notification
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