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The public is misinformed
USAToday recently ran a few letters to the Editor about aviation security. It’s amazing how people cannot do some simple fact-checking. Continue Reading
Category Archives: Current Affairs
TSA officers to be informed; say, there’s a thought
TSA announced today that approximately 10,000 of their workers will began the process of getting Secret clearances so they can receive better intelligence related to the current threats. While I applaud TSA’s latest action, I’m stunned that it had not been done before. Remember, the passengers on United 93 were INFORMED about what the true intent of the hijackers was and that ENABLED them to take appropriate action. The passengers on the other flights did not have that data. Continue Reading
Hands down the pants, hands down the pants, looking like a fool with your hands down your pants!
Recently, travelers in Canada have been asked to stick their hands down their pants, or in their pockets, so that screeners can swab their hands (after the fact) to determine if there is residue from explosives. Also, according to one CATSA official (Canada’s version of the TSA) the “hands down the pants,” procedures is an international aviation security practice. Maybe that “pants on the ground” guy on American Idol can come up with some new lyrics to describe how foolish aviation security is getting. Continue Reading
TSA forces airport to give convicted felon an ID badge!
As if on cue from my last blog entry, TSA has ordered Richmond airport in Virginia to issue an airport ID badge to a convicted felon, so he can work as a screener for the TSA! Continue Reading
Why TSA’s credibility is always questioned
An article in USAToday explains exactly why TSA’s credibility is always questioned, particularly by those in the aviation industry.
The article discusses the new whole body imagers and their potential impact on airport passenger flow and screening lines. The TSA representative, despite educated opinions from actual airport operators, says that the new technologies will not slow down passenger flow because the length of time people spend at the checkpoints is actually a factor of how long it takes to put their bags through the x-ray machine, not going through the magnetometer.
This is why TSA has such low credibility with airport and airline operators. This type of thinking is reflective of policy makers who do not know enough to listen to the people actually running the systems and implementing the technologies — i.e. the real experts. Continue Reading
ALPA has a point
The Air Line Pilots Association have a point. In their recently released White Paper on “Meeting Today’s Aviation Security Needs: A Call to Action for a Trust-Based Security System” ALPA calls for a risk-based assessment of passengers as a security methodology, rather than a religious reliance on technology.
This is exactly what every aviation security expert worth their salt has been calling for and it’s time to start paying attention. Otherwise, attacks will continue, aviation will lose more of its benefit, and it will cost everyone more and more money — and it doesn’t need to.
Sadly, I’m not sure what it will take for us to make this mode shift. We’ve been attacked over and over and continue to rely on what is only slightly effective. Continue Reading
New law is not the solution
Again, here we are after another terrorist attack/attempt, and Congress decides to take action without direction so it looks like we’re doing something. We have to much of this in aviation security, looking like we’re doing something without actually doing it. Too bad the bad guys are doing it the other way around. Perhaps some of these Congressional staffers who do the actual policy making, should pick up a book on aviation security and read how the system works sometime – I can make some recommendations if they’d like. Continue Reading
“All you did today was weaken a country”
The headline is from the movie “A Few Good Men,” spoken by Jack Nicholson. With Erroll Southers bowing out under pressure from Sen. Jim DeMint from his appointment to head TSA, all that has happened is that the country is less safer today. DeMint’s assertion that Southers position on collective bargaining was unfounded as there are plenty of provisions for federal employees who are part of a union to ensure they don’t all walk out the door, and still remain flexible enough to respond to rapidly changing threats. Continue Reading
Profiling
A recent Gallup poll showed that many American’s support ethnic profiling in our airports. I do not. Here’s why. It doesn’t work.
The question is often asked, should we profile? Well, not profiling is like saying “don’t breathe.” We all profile whether we want to or not. It’s in our DNA.
Ever since we were chasing Wildebeests across the Serengeti with a club a few thousand years ago we came with this built in survival instinct. When we walk into a room or down a street, we stay aware of our surroundings or else we may become a victim of crime, getting run over by a car or some other hazard. We feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings so you may not experience this on a daily basis, but if you ever want to test this theory, go to an unfamiliar part of town. You will immediately find yourself assessing your surroundings and the people within them. You will look at someone else and immediately try to decide whether they are a threat. How will you know, you’ll pay attention to body cues that your body has paid attention to since birth. Continue Reading
Rx for Aviation Security
In recent interviews on Denver’s Fox 31 News and on 9News, I tried to answer the most commonly asked question whenever there is a security incident: “How can we improve the system?” A good follow up question to that is: “At what point does all this security just cost too much?” The answers to both of these questions are interrelated.
At some point, security will cost too much. It will cost too much money, too much time and too much of a compromise of our civil rights. The solution is to improve the system through a strategy of reducing the number of people that we our looking at.
Whole Body Imagers can be effective but they take up a lot of space, may need stronger floors to sit upon and there may be additional power requirements. To replace all of the metal detectors in the U.S. will be costly in terms of both money and security wait times. Continue Reading