





On July 17 of this year, police responded to a drone with fireworks attached to it discovered on top of a building in downtown Los Angeles. Further details have not been released about the incident, but it does represent just one of the many threats drone operations can represent to airports, infrastructure and people. In… Continue Reading
Article Originally Published in the State Aviation Journal May, 2019 Why have gun seizures at US airports gone up by 357% over the past ten years? In 2008, TSA 926 seized guns at screening checkpoints. Last year they seized 4,239 and the rate continues to increase. If you haven’t heard, you can’t carry a gun in… Continue Reading
The Toronto airport again has played a role in aviation security. It was 134years ago, June 23, 1985, when the deadliest airline bombing in history took down Air India Flight 182. The flight had departed from Vancouver, made a stopover in Canada en route to London, but all 329 on board were killed by a… Continue Reading
The Aviation Security Act of 2016 requires TSA to improve the eligibility requirements and increase the disqualifying criminal offenses for personnel working at an airport, who have unescorted access to certain airport security areas. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be on the top priority of TSA as a few months back they decided to kick… Continue Reading
This is an evolving situation so facts may change the information expressed below. The theft of an aircraft out of SeaTac’s airport has shined a light on a rarely considered area of aviation security, the potential threat from those with unfettered access to an airplane. The last significant incident like this was the Germanwings first… Continue Reading
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson just released at statement on aviation security enhancements in light of the recent crash of a Russian airliner. The statement is posted here, followed up by my commentary. STATEMENT BY SECRETARY JEH C. JOHNSON CONCERNING AVIATION SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS PENDING INVESTIGATION OF THE CRASH OF METROJET FLIGHT 9268 While the facts and… Continue Reading
Can I trust my pilot? After 9/11, cockpit doors were reinforced to keep the bad people out. But what happens when they are already inside. The details of the Germanwings 9525 crash are still filtering out but from what appears to have happened, is that the co-pilot, due to mental issues or whatever, put the… Continue Reading
Jeff Price, aviation security specialist and owner of Leading Edge Strategies of Arvada, CO has been appointed as a Board Member for the Safe Skies Alliance. The National Safe Skies Alliance (http://www.sskies.org/) is an FAA-funded, non-profit, membership-based organization that serves aviation by providing impartial and effective testing and evaluation of safety and security for airports.… 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