Denial of Access: Hardening Our Defenses Against Terrorist Manipulation of Commercial Aircraft

In this article (Paragraph No. 5051), the author notes that the devastating aerial attacks of September 11, 2001, caught the U.S. wholly unprepared because the airline industry had never seriously anticipated hijacking attempts by suicidal terrorists, let alone contemplated the possible use of American aircraft as guided weapons of mass destruction. In this article on stopping terrorists' use of the U.S. civil aviation system, the author says that none of the methods of hijacking resistance traditionally taught to aircrews was ultimately usable, and, in fact, some of the recommended procedures may have hastened the deaths of the eight pilots whose airliners were commandeered. In addition, virtually all of the measures taken to identify and screen out potentially threatening passengers were exposed as essentially ineffective against those prepared to study and exploit weaknesses in the screening system in order to gain access to commercial aircraft in flight, the author continues. In essence the airline system of the U.S. failed systemically because the "designer terrorists" it was prepared to handle bore no resemblance to the type who actually appeared at our ticket counters, he concludes. While we must now immediately ensure against any future takeover of a commercial airliner, we must also harden our other lines of defense in three major categories: airport screening, airborne security, and aircrew identification, the author says. This paper provides an in-depth discussion of all three areas and, in particular, recommends complete and immediate federalization of the airport screening functions so clearly exposed as inadequate and dangerous. The paper provides specific recommendations for installation of intrusion-proof cockpit doors and behind-the-cockpit video systems, the arming of pilots, and adoption of new philosophies and procedures for the cockpit and cabin crews. All of this, the author says, must accompany an essentially simple and effective call for a system of federalized aircrew identification in order to prevent any future terrorist from attempting to gain access to commercial aircraft on the pretense of being a qualified crew member.

  • Corporate Authors:

    International Aviation Law Institute

    DePaul University College of Law, 25 E Jackson Boulevard
    Chicago, IL  United States  60604
  • Authors:
    • Nance, John J
  • Publication Date: 2004

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Edition: Transfer Binder 1: 2001 to 2004
  • Pagination: pp 1101-1123
  • Monograph Title: Issues in Aviation Law and Policy

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01150719
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Feb 19 2010 10:59AM