New and Emerging Threats...to Aviation

I was thinking for some time to write about the "new and emerging threats" to civil aviation worldwide, we think if the current threats range from hijacking,attacks on the airports and a possibility of a bomb attack..well think think again....as time changed the terrorist has evolved with it and has refined his tactics, gone are the day's of the Red brigade,Red army...etc...today terrorist is highly educated (as you all are very well aware) highly motivated and has the capacity to out think his opponent.

There are two future threats for which we have to be prepared in the civil aviation sector.

• Threats from Cargo and non commercial airlines ( the small aircraft's/cargo freighter's).
• A threat which we can define as "Cyber warfare".

I am not going to be advocate here who will define what is good or bad,if you see i am also dependent on a technology which is driving most of this world. There must be more than a billion people connected to this invisible information highway and so is "HE".

The age of the "Key board warrior" has come and who else to feel the punch than the US govt, recently there systems were hacked by the Chinese army.

One of the greatest Masters of warfare who's book is used as a bible today for most of the armies of the world "Sun Tzu" said and i quote...


" Hit your enemy where it hurts him most and to win a war with dead bodies to count is not winning,but to win a war with out dead bodies is a true win"

so we come to this point again how will all this effect the civil aviation?

Did you all see Die Hard film? did you notice how the ATC was taken over , well that's not a far off thought in a time like this.

Most of the ticketing software works online (using the web) if some one wants an airline to stop working for a day he just needs to get in it and Voila that the end of every thing for that day NO FLIGHTs.

The regulatory bodies have to very seriously think how to safe guard the civil aviation against this unlawful threat. No pun intended but the ICONS of the regulatory body don't have the time for this.

In all my years in the Aviation Security i have learned that you have to be two steps ahead of the alleged terrorist however that man is 5 steps ahead of you and the living example of that was 9/11 who could have imagined that some one would use an aircraft as a missile.


too be continued.......

National Threat Advisory Bulletin .....

I think the Aviation regulatory body should take a leaf out of the U.S Homeland Security and start a National Threat Advisory Bulletin on a day to day basis ,the air traveler and the general public has the right to know what are the threat levels in the country on a particular day, for that matter every citizen has the right to know.

We work in a system which has taught us " no one needs to know any thing if he is traveling by air then he should know better " keep the information to your self, some time i ...wonder "does he know what i know....... i can not do any thing ....I look at him and that's all...

Funny and amazing , nothing ever happens here for the positive after IC-814 and 9/11 the logical step should have been to start this bulletin but we did not,I think some one is waiting for some thing to happen...we have faced terrorism for the past 20 or more years and have lost approximately more than 40,000 people to it. We should be going ahead laying down standards to secure our skies... but the amazing part is that we are not at all bothered...

People get killed we don't learn from our past and from our mistakes, the system provides a knee jerk reaction to cover up for lost opportunities....or for its lack of initiatives..

The new threat is emerging now here is...as Nepalese govt and the Moist have parted way's , the influx of the Maoist carders in to India can not be ruled out...as the borders are open between both countries ....there has always been a threat to Indian aviation from the Maoist( Nepal) and other Indian groups...who have the same political bearing's .

A change has to come in the mind set of the Aviation security system here....other wise we may face problems....

Aviation (Airline) security here works with its one hand tied behind its back...pressurised by the airline management to take short cuts and the regulatory body standing on our heads...for a quid pro quo......

"Outsourcing Security..and other Departments."

Thanks "Anonymous " for your reply its true no one is concerned or bothered about security S.O.P but when the **** hits the fan it is this department that standing and doing the work the rest are miles away standing with there hands folded saying "See , I told you so"...and that angers me...

As per the new rule by the regulatory body every person joining an airline which ever it may be has to go through a standard aviation security course and pass it also, let me tell you this happens but after the course they are least bothered to use what they have learned.

Lets put it this way disasters like 9/11 and IC-814 happened because some some where did not do his job and compromised security or took a short cut.

Outsourcing Security..and other Departments.

In the not so recent past ,the full service airlines ruled the skies in India and there was no outsourcing of department functions,every body was on company payroll.

The most important fact is that security was never outsourced as a government policy every airline "Full service or LCC" had to have the security department on its pay role, they could out source the world but not Aviation Security, however with the emergence of LCC some departments have been outsourced like baggage handlers/cabin cleaning/ drivers.

If we talk of threats we have one sitting right here in front of us, outsourced workers at the airport, for an outsourcing company the airline is just a "business header" and nothing else the loyalty factor does not exist in there thinking and for the LCC it is a win win situation the less business heads they have on board the less the headaches they have, however in doing so they compromise on the basic tenant's of security.

There have been cases of contract workers walking away with baggage or stealing from the baggage it is easy for them to get hand in glove with an outsider who wants to cause some damage. A company employee will think twice before he takes the same step.

Government to take over airport jobs....

September 17, 2007 By Dale Rodebaugh | Herald Staff Writer
http://durangoherald.com/

The federal Transportation Security Administration will take over the task of validating identification and boarding passes at Durango-La Plata County Airport beginning Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year.

"We're rolling out our Travel Document Checkers at additional airports, including Durango, this fall," Carrie Harmon, regional public affairs manger for TSA in Denver, said Friday. "We'll be adding an additional 1,300 TSOs (transportation safety officers) in fiscal 2008."

TSA employees currently check luggage at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Document verification will be an extension of their work.

Animas Ground Services, which contracts with airlines to perform the document verification service in Durango, no longer will be used.

"Here we go again," Bruce Shisler, the owner of Animas Ground Services, said Sunday. "It's a taking without any compensation. I can't see it any other way."

In 2002, Shisler said, he let 168 employees go when TSA took over pre-boarding security in Aspen, Eagle, Gunnison, Amarillo, Tex., and Appleton, Wis., that his company was handling. He was left with Durango.

"Now, I lose nine part-time employees, including four senior citizens, a college student and two Vietnam veterans," Shisler said.

Shisler said he was told Monday a week ago that TSA would taker over document verification at Durango. The decision was reiterated in writing Thursday, he said.

Huntleigh Corp., another security-services provider, took the government to court because of jobs it lost to TSA, Shisler said. Lower-court decisions ruled in its favor but were overturned on appeal in March, he said.

"You have no chance against the government," Shisler said.

TSA already checks identification and travel documents at about 200 airports across the country, including JFK and Baltimore-Washington. Harmon didn't know how soon that would occur, but the switch will be done as quickly as possible.

"At airports where travel-document checking already is being done by TSA, the work is funded through efficiency gained elsewhere such as fewer on-the-job injuries," Harmon said. "The direction for TSA to move ahead with TDC at other airports is being funded by Congress."

TSA document checkers will take 190 hours of basic training, plus ongoing supplementary classes, Harmon said. Additionally, they will talk with passengers and observe behavior to spot passengers who could pose trouble.

Technorati Profile

Security Culture in India......

Every AVSEC professorial would agree that threat to the civil aviation comes from the assumption that there is no room for improvement and every thing is right and hunky dory. If a loophole exists ,then someone, some where will find it and try and exploit it to its fullest, are we looking at the future threats? the most dangerous threat to the aviation sector is the new and emerging threat posed by the "Internet".The more connected we are the more venerable we become.

There is a culture in airlines and that is catching like fire "sending a flight on time is more IMPORTANT than ,sending a SECURE flight".

AVIATION SECURITY is a forgotten sector here in India, we confuse it with SAFETY if a flight is safe for most in the airline it means that the flight is also "SECURE",after IC-814 we have not faced any major disaster that does not mean that we put our guard down.

The best defense against any terrorist does not come in the form of new technology or developments in EVDs or x-ray scanners or the latest CCTV "it comes in the form of the human brain and investment in sharpening human brain to its best possible capacity and that is an investment worth taking". It is always the man behind the machine.

I am not saying that technology is not good but i believe the more you take in technology the more venerable you become,lets not keep our flanks unprotected. A human asset will always be more important than the technology.Technology will always be an helping hand to the human brain.

While saying that, the investment in technology is below the desired level here and need a boost immediately, the investment in human brain is at a ok level when it comes to Aviation security we have not been able to create a much desired security culture among the passengers which is most important.

Aviation Security department in every airline is considered to be a nuisance as it asks WHERE ,WHEN and HOW, as of today we don't have a generation of AVSEC officers (apart from the officers who retire from the AVSEC regulatory body)who can later be the bed rock of airlines of the future,people want to leave this trade as salaries are low there are no promotions,frustration among the staff.....

lets hope we are able to develop a security culture in India.