Tragedy in the U.S.: why was it possible?
What happened in the U.S. was terrible.
But why each time we got terrified by what had already happened and only then we start thinking, how it happened and what should we do to make such things happening as seldom as possible. I am not an expert in flight security (though I work in security system field) but I could say definitely: we are not protected from terrorists in the air.
Just have a look, how a Security Service of any airport operates. Let's take the procedure of flight's registration - documents are arranged, luggage is weighed. A tab is hanged on a trunk and it passes along a conveyer. But what is inside the trunk??? This may be of interest for Custom officers after the airplane landing. If only...
And here is a checking of what passengers carry into the cabin. The work is done using an X-ray introscope and an arched metal detector. For a whole day a security service officer stares at the screen trying to find out a gun, a knife or something alike among the heap of things. Who can guarantee that during this routine work a security man won't miss something suspicious - he is only a human being after all!
But suddenly something attracted his attention and it often happens that the officer who is standing by also connects to the analysis. Or, otherwise, an alarm signaling of an arched metal detector triggers and the security man asks the passenger to take everything out of his pockets and repeat the pass through the metal detector. Again the alarm triggers, the procedure repeats (and may be not once) until the reason clears. But the main thing, and I witnessed that not once, is that in such cases officers are so deeply involved in inspection of the suspected person that they completely forget about the remaining passengers who are standing in queue. At this moment one can easily pass by the metal detector and carry even a cannon with him!
All this taken together is called the influence of human factor. None technical equipment does resolve security problems while everything basically depends on attention of people who provide the security (and their attention can be deliberately distracted). So, what's the decision? In this case arrangement of the sluices, for example. Is it expensive? And is it not expensive otherwise?
Now let's see what happens on board of a flying plane. Is the crew sitting in the flight deck aware of what is happening in their cabin? In the U.S. video surveillance systems are widely used in school buses. It's fine, but is the security of an aircraft of less importance? In my view, each airplane should be equipped with CCTV system, this system being operated in combination with acoustic detectors, which trigger on a gunshot or loud cry.
In case of long flights when a main light is switched off the video system should include the IR-lamps. The motion detectors triggering at fast movement of people along the cabin may be of great help. All the above proves that taking immediate preventive measures against terrorism is a must.
Unfortunately, certain tragic events forced me to write this article before my web site is completely finished. Partially, I was pushed to write the article by the fact that I flew from the U.S. to Europe one day before the tragedy.
We should not be slow!
13.09.2001
Yuri Gedzberg