Airport security
Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats.
Aviation security is a combination of measures and human and material resources in order to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference. Unlawful interference could be acts of terrorism, sabotage, threat to life and property, communication of false threat, bombing, etc.
Description
Large numbers of people pass through airports every day. This presents potential targets for terrorism and other forms of crime because of the number of people located in one place. Similarly, the high concentration of people on large airliners increases the potentially high death rate with attacks on aircraft, and the ability to use a hijacked airplane as a lethal weapon may provide an alluring target for terrorism.Airport security attempts to prevent any threats or potentially dangerous situations from arising or entering the country. If airport security does succeed then the chances of any dangerous situation, illegal items or threats entering into an aircraft, country or airport are greatly reduced. As such, airport security serves several purposes: to protect the airport and country from any threatening events, to reassure the traveling public that they are safe and to protect the country and their people.
Travellers are prohibited to pass the security checkpoint with liquids, including water, that are over. This is due to the risk of liquid explosives such as nitroglycerin which is colourless and indistinguishable from water. It is undetectable with the security X-ray and would pose great threat if brought on board.
Monte R. Belger of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration notes "The goal of aviation security is to prevent harm to aircraft, passengers, and crew, as well as support national security and counter-terrorism policy."
Airport enforcement authority
While some countries may have an agency that protects all of their airports, in other countries the protection is controlled at the state or local level. The primary personnel will vary and can include:- A police force hired and dedicated to the airport e.g. the Irish Airport Police Service
- A branch of the local police department stationed at the airport
- Members of the local police department assigned to the airport as their normal patrol area
- Members of a country's airport protection service. E.g., US TSA
- Police dog services for explosive detection, drug detection and other purposes
- Security guards
- Paramilitary forces
- Military forces
Process and equipment
Computed tomography and walk-through body scanning may also be done. Artificial intelligence systems are also being used, for example for translation service on information stations around the airport and for reducing the time airplanes spend at the gate between flights. In the future, it may also be used in conjunction with CT machines and Thz radiation detectors. It may also be used for use with biometric deployment across touchpoints and of new solutions, such as risk-based screening and intelligent video analytics.
A recent development is the controversial use of backscatter X-rays to detect hidden weapons and explosives on passengers. These devices, which use Compton scattering, require that the passenger stand close to a flat panel and produce a high resolution image. A technology released in Israel in early 2008 allows passengers to pass through metal detectors without removing their shoes, a process required as walk-through gate detectors are not reliable in detecting metal in shoes or on the lower body extremities. Alternately, the passengers step fully shoed onto a device which scans in under 1.2 seconds for objects as small as a razor blade.
In some countries, specially trained individuals may engage passengers in a conversation to detect threats rather than solely relying on equipment to find threats.
A single backscatter scan exposes the target to between 0.05 and 0.1 microsievert of radiation. In comparison, the exposure from a standard chest x-ray is almost 100 times higher.
While airport security measures are crucial for ensuring passenger safety, they inadvertently introduce hygiene challenges. A study at Helsinki-Vantaa airport during the 2015-2016 flu season pinpointed the plastic security screening trays, frequently used in security checks, as a significant vector for the spread of respiratory viruses. The study emphasizes the need for enhanced sanitation practices in these areas.
Generally people are screened through airport security into areas where the exit gates to the aircraft are located. These areas are often called "secure", "sterile" and airside. Passengers are discharged from airliners into the sterile area so that they usually will not have to be re-screened if disembarking from a domestic flight; however they are still subject to search at any time. Airport food outlets have started using plastic cups and utensils as opposed to cups made out of glass and utensils made out of metal to reduce the usefulness of such items as weapons. Many airports issue an airside pass to their employees, a secure keycard that allows employees to enter the secure area. Employees requiring an airside pass are subject to numerous security checks, including a criminal records check and proof of identity. They are not allowed to use it when they shall fly themselves. Aircraft crew also shall be screened.
In the United States non-passengers were once allowed on the concourses to meet arriving friends or relatives at their gates, but this is now greatly restricted due to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Non-passengers must obtain a gate pass to enter the secure area of the airport. The most common reasons that a non-passenger may obtain a gate pass is to assist children and the elderly as well as for attending business meetings that take place in the secure area of the airport. In the United States, at least 24 hours notice is generally required for those planning to attend a business meeting inside the secure area of the airport. Other countries, such as Australia do not restrict non-travellers from accessing the airside area, however non-travellers are typically subject to the same security scans as travellers.
Sensitive areas in airports, including airport ramps and operational spaces, are restricted from the general public. Called a SIDA, these spaces require special qualifications to enter. Systems can consist of physical access control gates or more passive systems that monitor people moving through restricted areas and sound an alert if a restricted area is entered.
Throughout the world, there have been a few dozen airports that have instituted a version of a "trusted traveler program". Proponents argue that security screening can be made more efficient by detecting those people who are threats and then searching them. They argue that searching trusted, verified individuals should not take the amount of time it does. Critics argue that such programs decrease security by providing an easier path to carry contraband through.
Another critical security measure used by several regional and international airports is that of fiber optic perimeter intrusion detection systems. These security systems allow airport security to locate and detect any intrusion on the airport perimeter, ensuring real-time, immediate intrusion notification that allows security personnel to assess the threat and track movement and engage necessary security procedures. This has notably been utilised at Dulles International Airport and U.S. Military JFPASS.
Notable incidents
On May 30, 1972, three members of the Japanese Red Army undertook a terrorist attack, popularly called the Lod Airport massacre, at the Lod Airport, now known as the Ben Gurion International Airport, in Lod. Firing indiscriminately with automatic firearms and throwing grenades, they managed to kill 24 people and injure 78 others before being neutralized. One of the three terrorists, Kozo Okamoto, survived the incident.The world's first terrorist attack while in flight was Cubana Flight 455 on October 6, 1976, when the airliner flying from Barbados to Jamaica was brought down by two time bombs, killing 73 people. Evidence implicated several Central Intelligence Agency-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles and members of the Venezuelan secret police DISIP, including Luis Posada Carriles.
The single deadliest airline catastrophe resulting from the failure of airport security to detect an onboard bomb was Air India Flight 182 in 1985, which killed 329 people.
Another onboard bomb that slipped through airport security was the one on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, which killed 270 people; 259 on the plane, and 11 residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.
Another notable failure was the 1994 bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, which turned out to be a test run for a planned terrorist attack called Operation Bojinka. The explosion was small, killing one person, and the plane made an emergency landing. Operation Bojinka was discovered and foiled by Manila police in 1995.
The Rome and Vienna airport attacks in December 1985 were two more instances of airport security failures. The attacks left 20 people dead when gunmen threw grenades and opened fire on travelers at El Al airline ticket counters.
The September 11 attacks are the most widely recognized terrorist attacks in recent times involving air travel. On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 members of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda took control of four airplanes on the east coast of the United States and deliberately crashed two into both World Trade Center towers in New York City and the third into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, not reaching Washington, D.C., for its intended target, either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people, including the 245 civilians, a law enforcement officer, and the 19 hijackers on board the four airplanes.
On July 5, 2002, a gunman opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport. The shooter killed two people and injured four.
On August 10, 2006, security at airports in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States was raised significantly due to the uncovering by British authorities of a terror plot aimed at detonating liquid explosives on flights originating from these countries. This is also notable as it was the first time the U.S. Terror Alert Level ever reached "red". The incident also led to tighter restrictions on carrying liquids and gels in hand luggage in the EU, Canada, and the United States.
On May 7, 2020, Southwest Airlines Flight 1392 struck and killed a trespassing pedestrian while landing on runway 17R at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport. No injuries were reported to the 53 passengers and 5 crew aboard the aircraft. The victim, who was not a badged airport employee, was subsequently confirmed to have breached airport security in reaching the runway. The accident is under investigation.