Friday, July 27, 2007

Air security: Israeli style



The Israelis became the first victims of Middle Eastern aviation terrorism when an El Al flight from Rome was hijacked in 1968. Strong security measures have prevented a single El Al plane from being seized since, and no commercial airliner leaving Israeli airports has ever been taken over. How does Israel do it?
Israeli procedures concentrate more on identifying people who are threats than things that are threats.

Whereas Transportation Security Administration personnel often chat with one another at checkpoints, Israeli personnel focus consistently on evaluating the passengers.

Israeli procedures make obvious sense and are carried out with more politeness than we routinely experience in American airports.
(Detroit News)

1 comment:

LHwrites said...

Israel has been locking and keeping reinforced cockpit doors sealed for the entire trip for many, many years. While a redesign to incorporate bathroom facilities are years away for American flights, between metal detectors to find most weapons and locking solid doors under any circumstance, there would be almost no chance whatsoever of a hijacking. These simple procedures would have prevented 9/11. George W. has said he would have moved Heaven and Earth to prevent 9/11. What he has always failed to mention is that once he had a 1 month's notice that Osama was targeting hijacking our planes, he might move heaven and earth (which he actually can't do, but he does not seem to know that) but he could have ordered all the cockpits locked and did not. W. apparently felt like that was an overzealous overreaction and burdensome bureaucracy, unfair to inflict on the airlines. Of course, since 9/11 this is exactly what is done on all American flights.