Security Roundup

Air Safety Week,  Nov 20, 2006  

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Date: 15-Nov
Incident: Authorities have uncovered a plot to set up a flight training school
in the Pacific nation of Kiribati, the man behind it having had links to
September 11 mastermind Mohammed Atta. Since the plot emerged, Kiribati had
asked for Australia's help to fight terrorism, ABC radio reported today. The FBI
said Wolfgang Bohringer was considered a "person of interest" and had close
connections with a US flight school used by Atta, who masterminded the plot to
hijack passenger planes and fly them into key targets in the United States five
years ago. Bohringer had fled Kiribati on his yacht, leaving questions about his
intentions. He surfaced in the Pacific nation about a year ago and began talking
up plans for a resort and flight school on Fanning Island - a remote outpost
with no phones, no functioning airstrip but among the closest to Hawaii.

Date: 15-Nov
Incident: UK airport operator BAA said it would employ 500 additional security
staff and spend more money on x-ray machines following a security alert at its
airports. "Our additional investment in nearly 500 new security staff amounts to
an extra GBP16 million pounds (US$30.2 million)p.a. on top of the GBP200 million
(US$377 million) plus that we already spend on security," BAA Chief Executive
Stephen Nelson told an airports conference. BAA, as owner of Heathrow, Gatwick
and Stansted airports, will invest an additional GBP7 million (US$13.2 million)
on new x-ray machines and metal detectors.

Date: 15-Nov
Incident: A Filipino man who flew home from Cambodia said he was carrying live
fish in his carryon luggage, until a check of the bag at Manila airport revealed
three 1.5-foot long crocodiles, officials said Wednesday. The head of the Manila
Airport Authority said it wasn't clear how Enrique Yu Castillo was able to carry
the Siamese crocodiles from Phnom Penh to Singapore to Manila. The crocs are on
an endangered species list, airport manager Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.
Charges were made against Castillo, while the reptiles were turned over to the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Castillo had earlier sought a
permit to import the exotic animals but his application was denied.

Date: 13-Nov
Incident: A Swedish woman went into allergic shock and lost consciousness for
half an hour on a flight from Paris to Stockholm. Her medication was taken away
during a security check at boarding. Lidia Holsten's medicines with her name on
them were taken from her by personnel who only spoke French, even after they
told airport personnel she suffered from severe asthma, and needed her
medication. "We don't speak the language and the airport staff refused to speak
anything other than French. They only pointed at a sign, threw our things away
in a bin." Holmsten went into allergic shock on the plane.

Date: 13-Nov
Incident: A union representing Paris airport workers presented a film which they
said showed a block of clay being smuggled onto an aircraft to demonstrate how
easy it would be for terrorists to get plastic explosives onto a plane. The
claim came as seven Muslim airport workers including two from Chronopost -- the
freight unit of French post office operator La Poste -- await a court decision
on their appeal against being stripped of their work passes because they were
considered a security risk. "It shows anyone can pass whatever they want into
the secure area," said Haziz Faddel, a representative of the CGT union. The
union wants to see private sector contractors banned from airport security
roles.

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