Security Roundup

Air Safety Week, Feb 11, 2008

Date: 8-Feb
Incident: Police say a Somali woman charged with trying to hijack  Air New
Zealand flight 2279 last Friday wanted to go to Australia. The 33-year-old
allegedly threatened to blow up the 19-seat plane and stabbed two pilots in the
cockpit - one in the hand and the other in the foot. Police say she claimed two
bombs were on the twin-engine Jetstream aircraft, which was travelling from the
South Island town of Blenheim, but none have been found. The woman appeared in
court on Saturday to face charges of hijacking and wounding with intent.
Hijacking carries a maximum sentence in New Zealand of life imprisonment. The
woman, who lives in Blenheim, and another passenger received minor cuts and were
treated at the airport. Seven people were on the plane, including a Victorian
man. Superintendent Dave Cliff says the woman was tampering with the aircraft's
controls while the pilots were trying to land. "The aircraft landing was
somewhat rough because of weather conditions here at Christchurch Airport," he
said. "She ended up fal

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: Pilots flying over Oahu are being greeted with annoying and
potentially-dangerous beams of light. The Federal Aviation Administration blames
laser pointers in a string of new cases. In the past week, the FAA received
three reports of incidents in which a ground-based laser beam was aimed at
aircraft approaching or departing Honolulu. "That is a relatively large number
of incidents in a short period of time," Ian Gregor, FAA spokesperson, said.
"It's not unheard of for people to light up planes on the islands with lasers.
But typically, we don't see three of them in seven days." Two of the laser
incidents happened over East Oahu and the third was on the West side. "The FAA
is very concerned about these irresponsible acts because even a small laser
pointer can temporarily impair a pilot's vision," Gregor said. "And that could
be very serious if it occurs when the pilot is in the very critical landing or
taking off phase of flight." The FAA calls it a growing problem. In 2005, there
were about 290 reports of las

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: An Indian court jailed three men for life on Tuesday for their role in
the eight day hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999.Abdul Latif and
Dalip Bhujail, both Indian nationals, and Yusuf Nepali, from Nepal, were
convicted of criminal conspiracy and murder following an eight year trial, said
B.S. Sodhi, their lawyer. The court in Patiala in Punjab state said the men, who
are known by several aliases, supplied weapons and fake passports to the
hijackers. Five armed men hijacked an Airbus A300 carrying 189 passengers and
crew between Kathmandu and New Delhi on Christmas Eve in 1999. The plane touched
down in western India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates before landing in
Kandahar in Afghanistan. he hijackers killed one passenger early in the week-
long stand-off, but the remaining passengers and crew walked free after India
released three Kashmir separatist militants from jail. India said the hijackers
were all Pakistani and accused Pakistan's government of complicity in the
hijacking, charges it d

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: Australia's Government has agreed to provide an assistance package to
Indonesia to help the country improve its transport safety and security. The
Australian minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development and
local government, Anthony Albanese, signed a formal agreement with Indonesia
last week covering the assistance package. In a statement Min Albanese said that
Australia will provide nearly A$24 million ($22 million) over three years to
help train up to 40 Indonesian airworthiness inspectors, help improve air
traffic management services and provide advice in accident investigations, among
other things. The assistance deal stems from several nasty air accidents last
year, which ultimately led European and US authorities to downgrade the
country's aviation safety rating. Australia has provided assistance to Indonesia
in the past, such as helping to train aviation security officers to improve
screening at key airports.

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: New boutique luggage shipping companies now offer harried travelers an
alternative to paying airlines to transport checked bags. United Airlines
recently announced a new gouge whereby it will start charging travelers for
checking a second bag. The airline said soaring fuel costs forced it to add the
fee and noted that just 25% of its customers check a second bag. It expects the
fee, which amounts to $50 per round-trip economy-class ticket, to generate about
$100 million in additional revenue. The fee is likely to be copied by other
legacy airlines, airline consultant Terry Trippler says. "They (United) are the
first, but they certainly won't be the last," said Trippler. It should be noted
that specialized luggage firms offer personal service, but may charge more than
$200, depending on the shipper and the speed of delivery.

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: A Dutch journalist smuggled a fake bomb and drugs onto airliners at
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to demonstrate weaknesses at Europe's fourth-
busiest air travel hub, he said on Wednesday. Alberto Stegeman, an investigative
journalist whose report on the security fiasco was aired on Dutch television
channel SBS 6 on Wednesday, said an associate took a job at Schiphol as a
baggage handler. "When you work there, you can do anything," Stegeman said.
Stegeman said he used his accomplice's uniform and credentials to smuggle a fake
bomb, complete with a digital timer and fake explosive blocks, onto an airliner.
Over a three month period, they were also able to take drugs into flight cabins
and other areas of planes because gate personnel always allowed overalled
workers into the airplanes. The Dutch Opposition party called for a
parliamentary debate last week to discuss the breaches at Schiphol.

Date: 6-Feb
Incident: An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing
last night at Logan International Airport after a passenger assaulted a flight
attendant on board. American Airlines Flight 44, originating from New York and
en route to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, was diverted to Logan's runway
4-R at approximately 8:10 p.m, according to Phil Orlandella of the Massachusetts
Port Authority. "An unruly passenger struck a flight attendant while on board,
but no one was badly injured," Orlandella said. "The unruly passenger has been
identified as 21-year-old Conde Ansoumane, a French citizen who has been taken
into custody," said Lt. Eric Anderson of the state police's Office of Media
Relations. The 767 was carrying 136 passengers.

Date: 5-Feb
Incident: Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has asked the TSA for a progress report
on the creation of an independent verification process that will be used to
identify passengers who claim to be police officers and try to fly armed.
Currently, passengers must present a photo ID identifying themselves as a law
enforcement officer and a letter from their agency in order to pass through
security with their weapon. The anomaly surfaced after Mayor Frank Melton of
Jackson, Mississippi was allowed to bring his personal firearms with him on
flights by presenting a gold police badge and a letter from former Police Chief
Shirlene Anderson identifying him as a law enforcement official. The TSA put a
stop to these misrepresentations (and Melton's armed flights) early in 2006, but
the regulations remain unchanged. In 2004, Congress ordered TSA to develop a
"biometric" verification process that uses fingerprints or retinal scans to
verify the identity of armed passengers claiming to be law enforcement officers,
but that system still

Date: 3-Feb
Incident: The vast majority of aircraft flying into Ireland isn't being checked
for drugs or contraband. This is particularly the case with flights into the
country's private airports where there is no customs presence or where customs
have to be called out about flights arriving from overseas. Despite claims by
the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen and the Revenue Commissioners that customs
controls are adequate, customs sources have revealed that the number of customs
investigators has fallen since the removal of the internal EU borders. A
considerable number of officers have been transferred from investigations to
other deskbound duties within the Revenue Commissioners, many on desk work. It
is understood that of the 20 private airports which can accommodate flights from
abroad, 12 are listed as having no customs presence or only having a customs
presence when required prior notification is given. Irish Aviation Authority
figures also indicate that there are now between 250,000 and 300,000 flights
into Ireland each

Date: 2-Feb
Incident: As the Rev. Sam Childers passed through security at a Maryland
airport, TSA personnel checked one of his boxes. Security confiscated three
quarts of motor oil, two bottles of diesel conditioner and a can of WD-40 from
him. He claimed to need these items for generators and trucks at the orphanage,
because he couldn't buy them in Sudan. The oil that's available in the country
is not the right weight. The pastor is now facing $28,000 in fines from the FAA
for taking hazardous materials on a plane -- but he says he isn't paying. "Four
of the five were not hazardous fire rated materials," he said. "The people at
the airlines have no idea of any of the laws."  Three months later, he received
a letter stating he would be fined $28,000 for the confiscated items. AllTrans
Pack, of Virginia, came to his defense, stating the oil and diesel fluid
conditioner were not hazardous materials, but conceded the WD-40 in the aerosol
could have presented a low level risk. The company runs a hazardous goods
training school. The FA

Date: 1-Feb
Incident: Apparently SWA was the airline of choice for a drug ring that moved
over $13 million of cocaine: See tinyurl.com/3dupbp .  "The stealth venture
operated from 2004 to 2006 and may have continued well into 2007 if not for one
major misstep: Southwest Airlines' corporate security noticed someone booked
more than 550 flights using the same frequent-flyer account. That sent up a red
flag to the airline personnel, worried about abuse of their frequent-flyer
"Rapid Rewards" program." The couriers made up the backbone of a drug ring that
moved the cocaine from Los Angeles to Cleveland, Memphis and Pittsburgh, federal
prosecutors and investigators say. The group was brought down following an
eight-month investigation, resulting in 24 convictions. The tale of the group's
downfall is laid out in reams of plea agreements, court documents, trial
testimony and interviews with federal agents. For at least three years, the drug
ring put nearly a ton of cocaine on the streets, plus PCP and marijuana. It
produced serious cash

Date: 31-Jan
Incident: Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) today launched a
new website at www.aci-na.org intended to provide comprehensive information
about airports to the general public, policymakers, media and its airport and
associate members. The new site provides general information on airports in
sections called Hot Topics, Airports & You, Issues, and Today's News.  Anyone
can Ask ACI-NA a question about airports and the response will be posted on the
site. Airports and companies that provide services to airports will appreciate
the information contained in sections like Airport Toolbox, and Business
Intelligence, which includes links to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to support
airport projects, new airline route listings, monthly airline traffic reports
and job postings. The TSA has also launched a new blog designed to get feedback
on airport security matters from travelers. The TSA says it will incorporate the
feedback from the blog, at http://www.tsa.gov/blog, into the checkpoint process.

Date: 31-Jan
Incident: A pilots' union in Canada supports the US ALPA's advocacy for
installing secondary barriers to prevent unimpeded access to cockpits when the
door is necessarily opened. The union says the "gate" would keep the cockpit
secure when pilots leave to get food or take a break. Canadian authorities have
not acted on the recommendation, but some carriers, including United Airlines,
already have secondary barriers in their cockpits. Many North American airlines
have instructed flight attendants to position a beverage cart diagonally across
the aisle when the cockpit door is open during flight. But ALPA's paper said
such precautions "do not establish a predictably reliable system capable of
significantly slowing and deterring a hijacker. Last July, the Air Line Pilots
Association International (IFALPA) called on Canadian and American authorities
to require secondary barriers on all airliners by 2010.

Date: 30-Jan
Incident: The U.S. Transportation Security Administration claims its "Screening
Passengers by Observation Techniques" or SPOT program has been so successful, it
plans this year to double the 600 "behavioural detection officers" patrolling
concourses and departure lounges for unusual, anxious or otherwise "suspicious"
passenger behaviour. Without revealing details, the TSA says the officers are
trained to discount the typical nervousness, anger and confusion that many
travellers legitimately experience. And it insists the officers do not use
ethnic, racial or religious profiling. After June's botched terrorist attack at
Glasgow's airport, the British government announced it will also be introducing
a hi-tech version of the concept. At the urging of the national security
committee of the Air Line Pilots Association International and others, Transport
Canada is researching what it calls "behaviour pattern recognition" and says it
is "interested in learning more . . . and especially (the) legal implications
for it in a Can

Date: 30-Jan
Incident: Oakland International Airport officials broke no rules or laws when
they directed to a remote corner of the airfield a charter plane ferrying
military personnel from Iraq, a U.S. Transportation Department inquiry found.
The diversion, which airport authorities said was based on security concerns,
caused the more than 200 soldiers and marines to spend a two-hour layover Sept.
27 between Iraq and Hawaii on the tarmac rather than inside a passenger
terminal. The incident troubled two influential congressmen and some
conservative commentators, including Fox News Channel's John Gibson, who called
it an "appalling reception of our men and women from the U.S. military." Florida
Rep. John Mica, the top Republican on the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, told Fox the incident was "a real slap in the face to
our troops," and asked the Transportation Department's inspector general to
investigate. According to DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovell III, a
breakdown in communications between the Departme