AirGuide Air Safety and Security Update

Former TSA worker charged with computer sabotage attempt

2010-03-11T08:53:00.000-05:00

A former TSA employee has been indicted on charges he attempted to sabotage the computer program used to keep terrorists off commercial airline flights. According to the indictment, Douglas James Duchak tried to introduce a virus into the computers at the TSA's Colorado Springs Operations Center. Technicians found the virus before it could corrupt any files, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver gave no motive for the alleged sabotage attempt.
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Al-Qaida scales back, encourages "individual jihad"

2010-03-11T08:52:00.001-05:00

Even a failure can be a success. Experts say that is the new message coming from al-Qaida, which may be shifting its focus to "lone gunman" attacks that are harder for security officials to detect and prevent. The change comes after a Nigerian man failed to bring down a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day -- but succeeded in capturing the nation's attention and rewriting the rules for air travel. "Even apparently unsuccessful attacks on Western mass transportation systems can bring major cities to a halt, cost the enemy billions and send his corporations into bankruptcy," an al-Qaida spokesman said in a recent Internet posting.
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No-fly list is a constant work in progress

2010-03-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

Putting a name on the federal no-fly list is a four-step process that begins with a tip or shred of intelligence arriving at the National Counterterrorism Center. From there, about 350 names per day are advanced to the Terrorist Screening Center where they may be added to a watch list. A handful of TSA experts further analyze names on the watch list, moving a small percentage to either the selectee list or the no-fly list. "One thing is for sure," the Associated Press reports after an investigation into the process. "Another incident like the Christmas Day near-miss will cause more re-examinations of a system still far from foolproof."
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Homeland Security: IRS attack in Texas not domestic terrorism

2010-03-10T08:54:00.001-05:00

The crash of a private plane into an IRS building is not being considered domestic terrorism, according to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Pilot A. Joseph Stack was acting as a "lone wolf" with a personal agenda against the government, Napolitano said in a radio interview. "He used a terrorist tactic, but an individual who uses a terrorist tactic doesn't necessarily mean they are part of an organized group attempting an attack on the United States," said Napolitano.
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Former Customs chief stresses need for intelligence at TSA

2010-03-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

Ralph Basham, the former Customs and Border Protection commissioner, is calling for quick confirmation of Maj. Gen. Robert Harding as head of the TSA. He said Harding's experience as chief of operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency would help keep travelers safer. "That's very important when you have the volume of information and people moving through there every day. You need to reduce the size of the haystack and truly focus on those people who truly represent threats," Basham said.
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Pakistanis cause PR problem for refusing DCA secondary screening

2010-03-10T08:53:00.001-05:00

Six Pakistani lawmakers hand-picked by the State Department for a VIP tour of the U.S. are now causing a PR headache after they refused to undergo secondary screening at Reagan National Airport. The group of parliamentarians canceled a scheduled flight to New Orleans rather than go through a full-body scanner at DCA. "Going through a body scan makes you naked, and in making you naked, they make the whole country naked," one of the group said during a radio interview. U.S. officials said the Pakistani group was warned in advance that America is not a "VIP culture" where lawmakers are exempted from unpleasant duties. "We are disappointed that the group took offense at the security procedures thousands of Americans and visitors must endure at airports every day," said a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
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UN official blasts airport scanners as breach of individual rights

2010-03-10T08:53:00.000-05:00

A top UN human rights officer is criticizing full-body scanners as a violation of individual rights. "The use of a full body scanner which reveals graphic details of the human body, including the most private parts of it, very easily is a violation of human rights," Martin Scheinin said Tuesday. Scheinin said improvements in the technology could help to protect individual rights but that scanners were being rushed into service around the world in response to U.S. political pressure.
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India Warns Of Hijack Threat To Air India

2010-01-22T12:27:00.001-05:00

The Indian interior ministry has recommended extra security measures for Indian carriers after intelligence on a threat from militants to hijack an Air India plane, officials said on Friday. The warning comes just days before India's annual Republic Day on Tuesday, when there are often security scares. India has beefed-up security measures and remains wary of militant threats after the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and raised tensions with nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan. "We have alerted our civil aviation security people against a possible attempt to hijack an Indian airlines flight," U.K. Bansal, the special secretary for internal security in the Home (interior) Ministry said. "This would obviously be from terrorist groups who are arraigned against Indian interests," he added, but did not specify which group. An Air India spokesman would not comment on the threat, but said the airline would issue a statement later on Friday. The ministry had not recommended the suspension of flights, but suggested measures such as greater frisking and deploying more sky marshals, Bansal said. The biggest hijack threat was to flights by the carrier to and from the SAARC bloc of neighbouring nations, he said. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is made up of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Indian government was criticised for its handling of the Mumbai rampage. India is now spending millions on new security measures, from commando bases in cities to navy patrols and better intelligence gathering.
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Munich Airport Reopens After Security Breach

2010-01-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

"We checked the terminal intensively and we're certain that there are no explosives or dangerous materials in the terminal," -- Munich airport spokesman. Munich airport was re-opened on Wednesday after a three-hour shut down caused when a passenger left the security check even though his laptop computer set off an explosives detector, police said. About 1,200 police did not find the man in their search of the terminal, which was shut down and completely evacuated. All passengers had to go through security checks a second time after the terminal was re-opened, an airport spokesman said. "We checked the terminal intensively and we're certain that there are no explosives or dangerous materials in the terminal," said Peter Pruemm, a spokesman Munich's Franz Josef Airport, Germany's second largest airport. Pruemm said an earlier statement by federal police that the laptop had been confiscated turned out to be inaccurate. He said the man took his laptop and left the security area before it could be put through the security device a second time. "He took his laptop and left the security area," Pruemm said. "The laptop was not confiscated. That information was inaccurate." More than 100 flights were delayed, police said. Fights bound for destinations in Germany and abroad were delayed as security officials searched the airport's Terminal 2 for the passenger, airport spokesman Edgar Engert said. The security breach happened at about 3:30 pm (1430 GMT) and the closed-off section of the airport was reopened at 6:42 pm (1742 GMT). The police spokesman said the closed-area affected European Union flights by German carrier Lufthansa and its partner airlines.
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Air travel frustration spikes with fees, security

2010-01-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

By A. Pawlowski, CNN

Feeling nickel-and-dimed, frisked and scanned, crowded and hustled just to get from point A to point B, air travelers seem to be reaching new levels of frustration and unhappiness. Already on edge after the failed Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253, they're dealing with ever-changing security measures that the Department of Homeland Security says have been designed to be "unpredictable." But wait, there's more. Travelers who would rather check their luggage than fight for space in the overhead carry-on bins now have to pay even more if they fly on Delta Air Lines, Continental, United, US Airways or American Airlines, all of which have raised their checked luggage fees since the beginning of the year. "It's just ridiculous at this point," said Victoria Tucker, a consultant who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and who flies every week on business to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "I do this 52 weeks a year and sometimes you're at wits' end." Tucker dreads booking her flights for the month ahead, she said, because she automatically thinks about the four Mondays she'll have to spend hurrying through airports to get to her destination and the four Thursdays when she'll have to do the same thing as she returns home. Tucker, 32, also dreads the eight trips through security she'll have to make during that month, especially if there are leisure travelers ahead of her in line who may not know the latest rules and slow the process down. "For people who don't travel as much as me, I can't imagine how tricky this can get for them," Tucker said.
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Arrest In JFK Terminal Security Breach

2010-01-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

A Haitian man has been charged with criminal trespass following a security breach that triggered the evacuation of a terminal at John F Kennedy Airport in New York on Saturday, authorities said on Sunday. Jules Paul Bouloute, 57, a Brooklyn resident, is accused of going through a door restricted to airport and airline employees after arriving on a flight from the Dominican Republic, setting off an alarm. American Airlines Terminal 8 was cleared for several hours and thousands of passengers were delayed for re-screening after the breach, which happened shortly after 3 pm, airline spokesman Charley Wilson said. The Transportation Safety Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has jurisdiction over the three major metropolitan area airports, ordered the evacuation. Passengers who had boarded also had to get off their planes and go through security again. A security breach at Newark Airport on January 3 prompted a shutdown that delayed thousands of passengers at the end of the holiday weekend. Authorities two week ago arrested the man suspected of setting off the scare, and charged him with defiant trespass. Security video showed the New Jersey resident slipping into a secure area at the airport to give a woman companion a goodbye kiss.
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TB patient flies to SFO despite air travel ban

2010-01-13T12:05:00.002-05:00

A man with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis boarded a flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco last weekend despite a public health order to keep him off the plane, officials said Tuesday.
The man was intercepted at San Francisco International Airport when the US Airways plane landed on Saturday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was quarantined and taken to a Bay Area hospital for treatment. He had been scheduled to transfer to another flight overseas.
CDC officials said the risk to other passengers on the plane - identified as US Airways Flight 401 - was minimal because the flight was less than eight hours.
"When transmission does occur, it tends to occur on long-haul flights," longer than eight hours, said Dr. Martin Cetron, CDC director for global migration and quarantine. "Fortunately, we were able to intercept this individual before they took the high-risk flight."
The patient, who is not being identified, was added to a federal "do not board" list on Friday. It's unclear how the man managed to get on the US Airways flight the next day. An investigation is under way.
The federal "do not board" list was created in June 2007 to prevent the spread of contagious diseases like tuberculosis. Since then, 88 people have made the list, all of them infected with tuberculosis, Cetron said.
People are put on the "do not board" list if they are contagious and are considered likely to try to get on an airplane, even if they've been told they shouldn't fly.
"Often individuals have, from their perspective, a compelling reason to want to travel, maybe to visit a sick family member back home," Cetron said. "So there is this tension between the individual's interest and needs and the broader needs of the public at large."
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs. Most people infected with tuberculosis are not actively sick with it. In active cases, symptoms include a persistent, long-lasting cough, fever and night sweats.
Drug-resistant cases of tuberculosis, which are more challenging to treat than nonresistant TB, are becoming more common worldwide. San Francisco public health officials said the man on Saturday's flight has a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis.
"If someone is untreated and they're coughing, they are putting the infectious organisms in the air. They shouldn't be going into enclosed environments," said Dr. L. Masae Kawamura, director of San Francisco's TB Control Section. "Going on a plane, that's not OK until you're safe to be back in the public."
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Travel updates on Haiti earthquake: Airport shut, roads closed, hotel damaged, airline offers aid

2010-01-13T12:05:00.001-05:00

The huge earthquake that struck Haiti today promises to heavily disrupt travel. The airport has been shut, roads are blocked and at least one hotel was damaged, newspapers and wire services reported today. Spirit Airlines said it was contacting relief groups to see if it can help with transportation.
Among the developments:
The Port-au-Prince airport is closed, and is expected to remained closed Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. An American Airlines plane was actually boarding passengers there when the earthquake hit, but after officials inspected the runway, it departed and later landed safety in Miami, the newspaper said.
The low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines said it canceled Wednesday’s scheduled service between Fort Lauderdale and Port-au-Prince, and is “currently reaching out to first-responder organizations and other early-stage disaster relief resources/agencies in order to assist with transporting medical and other professionals, as well as equipment … as soon as we are able to operate flights to that airport….”
The Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, where many foreigners stay, suffered at least some minor damage, and many roads were blocked, Reuters said.
Royal Caribbean said its private “island” of Labadee, nearly 100 miles away from Port-au-Prince on the northern coast of Haiti, did not report any damage, according to CruiseCritic.com.
Amid the chaos, some people were turning to Twitter feeds for updates.
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EU Justice Chief-Designate Urges Caution On Scanners

2010-01-13T12:04:00.002-05:00

"Human beings have dignity and every measure has to be clarified first. Does it respect human dignity, does it respect privacy and does it respect health?" -- Viviane Reding, EU.
The European Union should not rush into introducing full-body scanners at airports but give consideration to privacy and health questions, the EU's justice commissioner-designate said on Tuesday.
Britain, the Netherlands, France and Italy have announced plans to install the scanners at airports since the failed Christmas Day bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. But there is no EU-wide obligation to use the devices.
The United States plans to accelerate their use and wants to push other countries to install the scanners, which produce a complete image of the body underneath clothes, to improve airport security.
"We need to look at less intrusive means," Viviane Reding told the European Parliament during hearings of nominees for EU commissioners.
"Human beings have dignity and every measure has to be clarified first. Does it respect human dignity, does it respect privacy and does it respect health?"
The Commission had proposed regulations in 2008 that included the introduction of body scanners at airports, but the proposal was voted down by the European Parliament. Some of its members had said they amounted to a "virtual strip search."
But pressure to improve security and tighten rules has grown since a 23-year-old Nigerian was charged with trying to detonate explosives on a flight from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
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Airline hit over 'very poor' safety practices

2010-01-13T12:04:00.001-05:00

Safety practices at Jetstar Pacific Airlines, the Vietnam-based carrier part-owned by Qantas, have been found to be ''very poor and ineffective'' and defects hidden from supervisors, prompting the country's aviation regulator to demand the removal of senior management.
The damning report by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, obtained by The Age, also found Jetstar Pacific illegally sacked an Australian engineer - Bernard McCune - who attempted to bring the problems to the attention of the airline's senior Australian managers.
Two Australian executives at the airline - Daniela Marsilli and Tristan Freeman - were prevented from leaving the country by Vietnamese officials at Ho Chi Minh City's airport last month amid a probe into salary levels and financial losses of $US31 million($A33.5 million) relating to fuel hedging.
The airline's former chief executive, Luong Hoi Nam, was arrested and imprisoned last week and accused of a ''lack of responsibility causing serious consequences'' in a related investigation.
Among the dangerous practices identified by the CAAV was the removal of a defective anti-icing pipe that, rather than being replaced, was welded and placed back in the aircraft by an unauthorised contractor.
''Technical staff did not report [this] occurrence on purpose,'' the report found, following an audit conducted in October.
Moreover, ''many mistakes and violations were covered up deliberately by JPA [Jetstar Pacific Airlines] from the supervision''.
It said that technical staff had recorded incorrectly the size of defects and had twisted the facts of defect levels.
Amid deep cost-cutting at the airline, it concluded that there was an inadequate number of maintenance personnel, while also finding that Jetstar Pacific's maintenance facilities were substandard.
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Passenger Charged In AirTran Jet Scare

2010-01-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

An unruly passenger who caused an AirTran Airways aircraft to make an emergency landing escorted by fighter jets was charged on Monday with interference with a flight crew.
Muhammad Abu Tahir, 47, was scheduled to appear in court in Denver on Wednesday to be advised of the charges pending against him, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
The appearance had earlier been set for Tuesday but was changed due to issues related to scheduling an interpreter.
Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to escort the San Francisco-bound aircraft, which originated in Atlanta, to an emergency landing in Colorado Springs.
"During the course of the flight, Tahir consumed five airplane-size bottles of wine. After being served the fifth bottle the flight crew refused to serve him any additional alcohol. Tahir then locked himself in the aircraft lavatory," the department of justice said.
"Based on Tahir's belligerent and aggressive behaviour... flight attendants positioned beverage carts in the rear and in the front of the aircraft to prevent Tahir from moving toward the cockpit," it said.
The incident was the latest in a spate of plane scares as jitters grip the US airline industry in the wake of a foiled airline bombing attempt on Christmas Day on a Detroit-bound passenger plane.
If convicted, Tahir faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to USD$250,000, or both, as well as restitution to the airline, the Department of Justice.
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TSA: Passenger carries ammo on plane in Milwaukee

2010-01-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

A passenger inadvertently carried shotgun shells onto a Dallas-bound Midwest Airlines plane at Milwaukee's airport on Monday before he realized his mistake and alerted flight attendants, authorities said.
The man, who was not identified, did not mean any harm, saying he had forgotten that the ammunition was in his carryon bags when he boarded the flight, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jim Fotenos said.
TSA agents turned the ammunition over to local police and sent the man back for another security search. They then allowed him to reboard and the plane left for Dallas later Monday.
"The passenger was interviewed and rescreened with negative findings," Fotenos said in a statement. "The passenger stated that he inadvertently brought the prohibited items onboard the plane and self-disclosed them when he realized they were in his possession."
Fotenos said the TSA is reviewing how the passenger got the ammunition through pre-boarding security searches. He declined to identify the man or comment further. TSA policy prohibits passengers from having firearms or ammunition in their carryon luggage.
Oak Creek, Wis. based-Midwest Airlines declined to comment.
The incident comes less than a week after a grand jury indicted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with trying to use chemical explosives stashed in his underwear to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it landed in Detroit on Christmas Day. Since then, the TSA and airlines have boosted security in airports in the U.S. and around the world.
Another passenger on Monday's Midwest Airlines flight 1669, Doug Bell, 50, of Hales Corners, Wis., said the plane was pushing back from the gate around 8 a.m. when the pilot came on the intercom and said there was a security problem and the plane had to return to the gate. The pilot said a passenger had notified a flight attendant he was a gun dealer and had shells in his bag, Bell said.
"There was a murmur on the plane," Bell said. "The whole plane was wondering what was going on. It isn't everyday the pilot tells you somebody got on the plane and brought shells with him. ... I couldn't believe it."
The man got off the plane and a TSA agent searched the luggage compartment above his seat, Bell said. The man then got back on board, and the plane took off after about an hour's delay, he said.
Bells said he was shocked TSA agents didn't search the entire plane because the man could have dropped off something in another seat as he walked back to his during boarding.
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Threatening letter found on parked US Airways jet

2010-01-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

Authorities say a cleaning crew found a threatening letter on a parked US Airways aircraft, but no explosives or other dangers were discovered.
Greg Meyer, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, says a member of the crew came across the note early Monday morning. The plane had arrived hours earlier from Charlotte, N.C., and no passengers were aboard.
Meyer said the note said something about damaging the plane, but he did not specify the exact message.
Security officials used dogs to check the plane. The Transportation Security Administration says the plane was cleared and later returned to Charlotte as scheduled.
A phone message left with Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways was not immediately returned.
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Security Breach At Newark Airport Investigated

2010-01-04T14:40:00.000-05:00

Officials searched for clues on Monday into a security breach at Newark Airport, New Jersey that prompted a massive shutdown during the hectic holiday weekend that experts said was unavoidable given heightened concern over a potential attack.
The man, who has neither been found nor identified, walked the wrong way through a security checkpoint at 5:20 pm (2220 GMT) on Sunday at the busy New York City-area airport.
Officials cleared Terminal C, re-screened thousands of passengers, conducted a full security sweep of the concourse and grounded all flights for about six hours.
Airport surveillance tapes showed the man, who appeared to be Asian, leaving the terminal about 20 minutes after he entered a secure area via an exit-way without being screened, said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis on Monday.
The exit-way was well-marked with signs warning not to enter, she said. The man was seen on the tapes leaving via a different exit than the one he entered, she said.
"He has not been located," she said.
US airports were already at heightened security levels since a botched attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound flight on December 25 by a Nigerian man who boarded in Amsterdam. US authorities alleged he smuggled explosives in his underwear and had ties to al Qaeda.
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Dutch to use full body scanners for US flights

2010-01-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Netherlands announced Wednesday it will immediately begin using full body scanners for flights heading to the United States, saying that could have stopped the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing.
The U.S. had not wanted these scanners to be used previously because of privacy concerns but now the Obama administration has agreed that "all possible measures will be used on flights to the U.S.," Dutch Interior Minister Guusje Ter Horst told a news conference.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Friday carrying undetected explosives, law enforcement authorities said, adding that 23-year-old Nigerian tried but failed to blow up the plane carrying 289 people.
"It is not exaggerating to say the world has escaped a disaster," Ter Horst said, calling the situation a "professional" al-Qaida terror attack.
Amsterdam's Schiphol has 15 body scanners, each costing more than $200,000. But until now neither the European Union nor the U.S. have approved the routine use of the scanners at European airports.
A key European legislator urged the European Union to begin rapidly installing the new equipment across the 27-nation bloc, but no other European nations immediately followed the Dutch move.
Body scanners that peer underneath clothing have been available for years, but privacy advocates say they are a "virtual strip search" because they display an image of the body onto a computer screen.
Ian Dowty, a lawyer with Action on Rights of the Child, said allowing minors to pass through the scanners violates child pornography laws.
"It shows genitalia," he told The Associated Press. "As far as English law is concerned ... it's unlawful if it's indecent."
For that reason, British authorities have exempted under-18s from body scan trials at places including Paddington Station in London as well as Heathrow and Manchester airports.
New software, however, eliminates that problem by projecting a stylized image rather than an actual picture onto a computer screen, highlighting the area of the body where objects are concealed in pockets or under the clothing.
Ter Horst said the scanners likely would have alerted security guards to the materials concealed in Abdulmutallab's underwear and prevented him from boarding the Northwest flight.
"Our view now is that the use of millimeter wave scanners would certainly have helped detect that he had something on his body, but you can never give 100 percent guarantees," she said.
At least two scanners in Amsterdam have been experimentally using the less-invasive software since late November and the Dutch said those will be put into use immediately. All other scanners will be upgraded within three weeks.
But the 15 scanners will not cover the 25-30 flights a day that leave Amsterdam for U.S. destinations, and passengers at gates without one will be patted down. Schiphol is waiting for a government directive on whether to buy more machines, airport spokeswoman Kathelijn Vermeulen said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was briefed Tuesday by the Dutch justice minister on the subject, agency spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said in Washington.
"Schiphol Airport does not need the United States' permission to screen above and beyond ICAO standards. We of course support advanced imaging technology, as we use it here," she said in a statement.
In the preliminary report issued Wednesday, the Dutch government called the plan to blow up the Detroit-bound aircraft "professional" but said its execution was "amateurish."
Ter Horst said Abdulmutallab apparently assembled the explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. She said the explosives appeared to have been professionally prepared and had been given to Abdulmutallab, but did not elaborate.
"The approach in this case shows — despite the failure of the attack — a fairly professional approach," the investigation summary stated. "Pentrite is a very powerful conventional explosive, which is not easy to produce yourself."
"If you want to detonate it, you have to do that another way than he did. That is why we talk about amateurism," Ter Horst said.
Abdulmutallab arrived in Amsterdam on Friday from Lagos, Nigeria on a KLM flight. After a layover of less than three hours in the international departure hall, he passed through a security check at the gate in Amsterdam, including a hand baggage scan and a metal detector, and boarded the Northwest flight. He did not pass through a full-body scanner.
Abdulmutallab was carrying a valid Nigerian passport and had a valid U.S. visa, the Dutch said. His name also did not appear on any Dutch list of terror suspects.
"No suspicious matters which would give reason to classify the person involved as a high-risk passenger were identified during the security check," Ter Horst said.
Erik Ackerboom, head of the Dutch counterterrorism bureau, dismissed suggestions that Abdulmutallab should have aroused suspicion when he paid for a round-trip ticket from Lagos to Detroit in cash and had no check-in luggage.
Paying cash in Africa is not unusual, he said, and the lack of a checked suitcase "wasn't a reason for alarm."
Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to destroy an aircraft, is being held at the federal prison in Milan, Michigan.
In the U.S., 40 full-body scanners are being operated in at least 19 U.S. airports.
Six U.S. airports are using them for primary screenings: Albuquerque, N.M.; Las Vegas; Miami; San Francisco; Salt Lake City; and Tulsa, Okla. Passengers go through the scans instead of a metal detector, although they can elect to receive a pat-down search from a security officer instead.
The rest of the machines are being used at 13 U.S. airports for secondary screenings of passengers who set off a metal detector. But those travelers can also opt for a pat-down instead.
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Delta CEO: Flight 253 threat despite all security

2010-01-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

Delta Air Lines' chief is upset the 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard Flight 253 were put at risk by a suspected terrorist despite the carrier's compliance with government security measures.
CEO Richard Anderson told employees in a recorded message Thursday that airlines have done everything the government has asked since 9/11 to follow advanced passenger notification requirements and heightened screening measures.
He said that should have brought a better result than the peril those aboard the Christmas flight from Amsterdam to Detroit faced. Delta will insist Washington do a better job.
"Having this occur again is disappointing to all of us," Anderson said. He added, "You can be certain we will make our points very clearly in Washington."
According to authorities, a Nigerian man who said he was an agent for al-Qaida tried and failed to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight as it prepared to land. Delta owns Northwest.
Anderson said the crew aboard the flight will receive commendations from the airline next week "for their diligence and the work they did to make sure everybody got to Detroit safely." He did not elaborate. Delta is offering travel credits to the passengers on the flight.
The 23-year-old suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, arrived in Amsterdam on Dec. 25 from Lagos, Nigeria, on a KLM flight. Air France-KLM has a joint venture with Delta that involves sharing costs and revenue on trans-Atlantic flights.
After a layover of less than three hours in the international departure hall, the suspect passed through a security check at the gate in Amsterdam, including a hand baggage scan and a metal detector, and headed to the Northwest flight. He did not pass through a full-body scanner.
Officials said Abdulmutallab apparently assembled the explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. Passengers intervened, and the plan failed.
Abdulmutallab's name was in one expansive database, but he never made it onto more restrictive lists that would have caught the attention of U.S. counterterrorist screeners, despite his father's warnings to U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria last month. Those warnings also did not result in Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa being revoked.
U.S. investigators said Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to destroy an aircraft.
Delta, which bought Northwest in October 2008, obtained government permission Thursday to operate the two carriers as one.
The single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration allows Delta to put its code on Northwest flights and phase out the Northwest name. That process will be complete in the first quarter of 2010. For now, travelers won't notice anything different.
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ISSN 1544-3760 - Copyright © 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Implant Sciences Provides a Solution for Threats to Airport Security

2010-01-01T14:37:00.001-05:00

Implant Sciences Corporation, a high technology supplier of systems and sensors for homeland security markets, today announced new initiatives to target the U.S. market in aviation security for its products and technologies, based on recent events and the company’s international successes in transportation and aviation security.
In the wake of the attempted terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight on December 25, the Obama administration has announced the need for a review of air travel security including explosives detection technologies. Implant Sciences’ Quantum Sniffer™ QS-H150 Portable Explosives Detection system is currently used in transportation and aviation security applications around the world. The QS-H150 can detect a multitude of explosive compounds, including PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate), the substance allegedly used in the attempt to bomb Northwest flight # 253 on Christmas Day. Of particular note, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) have successfully deployed several hundreds of these systems for use at the Beijing Olympics and in airport security, checkpoint and package screening, and Air Marshall applications.
Glenn Bolduc, Company CEO commented, “Our technology is currently being used around the world by screeners and Air Marshals and we are working diligently to protect even more people closer to home.”
Implant Sciences is currently in discussion with the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) on initiatives to address threats from IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) utilizing its handheld detection system. In early 2009, the Company submitted its QS-300 system to the TSA for testing by the Transportation Security Laboratory (“TSL”), in connection with the requirements of the Air Cargo Screening Act of 2007. This law mandates that 100% of air cargo on passenger aircraft be screened by August of 2010. The Company has also been working with one of the largest freight forwarders in the world, and the freight forwarding industry in general, to position its technology for use by the private sector in its efforts to comply with this mandate.
Glenn Bolduc, Implant Science’s CEO concluded, “Our handheld explosive trace detection system provides a necessary and valuable solution to the current threats against the aviation system in the United States. We are working with both the federal and private sector to gain visibility and traction for our technology in the domestic marketplace.”
The QS-H150 offers compelling technical, operational, and competitive advantages. Among the most significant are non-contact sample collection; non-radioactive ionization; simultaneous detection and identification of explosives particulate and vapor; continuous self-calibration; and ultra-fast clear down (cycle time). The substance library of the QS-H150 is the broadest in the industry and includes not only standard military and commercial explosives, but also homemade explosives (HME) such as those used in the recent attempt. The library is also easily expanded as new threats emerge. These advantages offer an extremely versatile solution for Transportation Security, and can be rapidly deployed to greatly increase the number of items screened, effectively becoming a force multiplier.
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ISSN 1544-3760 - Copyright © 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

WestJet communicates extension of enhanced security measures

2010-01-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

WestJet announced today that in cooperation with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, Transport Canada and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), enhanced security screening measures in place at Canadian airports since December 25, 2009, will remain in effect until January 4, 2010.
All WestJet guests on flights bound to the United States until January 4, 2010, will continue to be subject to a secondary search, including a physical pat-down search and a hand-search of carry-on baggage, which is restricted.
Guests are advised that all carry-on baggage is prohibited on U.S.-bound flights, with the exception of certain items. For a list of items allowed as carry-on baggage, go to www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca
The enhanced security screening procedures may continue to result in delayed departures and cancellations. All guests are advised to arrive at the airport for trans-border departures three hours before the scheduled flight time.
WestJet will update guests as new information becomes available.
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ISSN 1544-3760 - Copyright © 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

US To Investigate Leak Of Airport Security Manual

2009-12-10T10:04:00.001-05:00

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has sought disciplinary action against people responsible for posting online a manual of security measures at US airports, and has called for a probe into the leak.
The 93-page Transportation Security Administration document was posted on a federal procurement website last spring and included procedures and technical details for screening operations, metal detectors and explosives detection systems at US airports.
It was labeled "Sensitive Security Information" and dated May 28, 2008.
Napolitano told a Senate panel on Wednesday that the manual was outdated, but that disciplinary actions have been initiated against those involved in the posting of the document, an outside contractor and TSA supervisors.
"We have also asked the (DHS) inspector general to do his own independent review to supplement and complement our review," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"The security of the travelling public has never been put at risk," she said, adding that some of the information from the manual had already been publicly available.
TSA said the individuals who may have been involved in improperly posting the document have been put on administrative leave pending the review by TSA's Office of Inspection.
The document posted online also revealed information meant to be kept secret, such as the dozen countries whose citizens should be referred for additional screening. They were Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen and Algeria.
Additionally, it provided sample pictures of the kinds of law enforcement identifications that could be presented at airport checkpoints, ranging from the CIA to members of the US Congress.
"Clearly somebody could take advantage of those things," Republican Senator Jon Kyl told Napolitano, recommending the department assess any potential damage caused by the release of the document.
TSA said in a statement that while the secret information was not properly protected in that version of the manual, it was not the everyday screening manual used at airport checkpoints and it has since been updated six times.
"Thorough post-incident analysis has determined that our systems are secure and that screening protocols have not been compromised," the agency said. "TSA is confident that screening procedures in place remain strong and the many layers of security keep the travelling public safe."
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ISSN 1544-3760 - Copyright © 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

US Airport Screening Secrets Posted Online

2009-12-09T10:36:00.001-05:00

The US Transportation Security Administration accidentally posted a document online containing secrets related to airport passenger screening practices, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
The TSA operating manual, posted on a federal procurement website last spring, spells out technical settings of X-ray machines and explosives detectors and other passenger and luggage screening details, the newspaper said.
TSA officials quoted by the Post confirmed the lapse, and former agency officials and congressional critics said the oversight exposed practices that were implemented after the September 11 attacks and following other security incidents.
"It increases the risk that terrorists will find a way through the defences," the Post quoted Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, as saying.
The 93-page document also includes pictures of credentials used by US lawmakers, CIA employees and federal air marshals and describes when certain firearms are permitted past the checkpoint, said the newspaper.
The manual was posted on the Internet in redacted form but blacked-out passages were easily recovered, the Post quoted TSA officials as saying.
The newspaper quoted a second former DHS official as saying the mistaken posting of the secrets was more a public relations blunder than a security risk because TSA manuals are circulated widely in the aviation community.
TSA officials told the Post that the agency was conducting an internal review of the case.
"TSA has many layers of security to keep the travelling public safe and to constantly adapt to evolving threats. TSA is confident that screening procedures currently in place remain strong," the agency said in a statement.
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