Airport Security

May 1, 1997 12:00 PM, By EMILY HARWOOD

           

A number of new explosive detection devices are under development, one of which recently met the FAA's certification standard. The CTX 5000, manufactured by InVision Technologies, is a computerized tomography (CT) device that operates like a medical CAT scanner. It produces a three-dimensional image of suspicious items for operator review. CTX 5000 has been successfully field-tested in Manchester, U.K., Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Rome. The CTX 5000 is slower than x-ray scanners, but the FAA has granted funds to InVision to research improvements that will enhance its efficiency.

Although the ultimate goal of airport security is to prevent bombs from getting onto airliners, research is being done to make planes bomb-proof in the event a bomb does get by security. The FAA is working with a joint industry-government consortium to study this technology. Work is in progress on a cargo hold container lined with a high-strength composite that could resist the effects of a blast. Plans are in effect to test several prototype containers for functionality. Cost, weight and durability top the list of concerns surrounding this technology.

Advances in security technologies have assuredly benefited the traveler's safety, but in some cases, well-trained, observant personnel are the most effective security available.

In 1986, a young woman who attempted to board an Israeli El Al flight to Tel Aviv successfully passed through all routine screening procedures. Still, security officials felt something was not quite right and detained her before final boarding. One last search of her belongings turned up approximately three pounds of the plastic explosive Semtex.

It would be impossible to cover all the regulations, new and existing technologies and expectations surrounding airport security in this space. However, it is important to understand that whether we encounter it or not, airport security involves a complicated mix of rules and regulations, technology, human instincts and sometimes, just plain old luck. Recent airline disasters have prompted closer scrutiny of airport security measures that will hopefully close existing gaps and allow air travel to maintain its standing as the safest form of travel available.

The next time you wonder if security delays are necessary, consider the adjacent list of commercial airline disasters resulting from criminal activities. It can be reasonably assumed that the 1,900 plus persons killed in the incidents would have gladly accepted security-related delays in exchange for their lives. The regulations

Sec. 108.5 Security program: adoption and implementation. * Each certificate holder (airline) shall adopt and carry out a security program that meets the requirements of Sec. 108.7 for each scheduled or public charter passenger operations.

Sec. 108.7 Security program: form, content and availability. * Provide for the safety of persons and property traveling in air transportation and intrastate air transportation against acts of criminal violence and air piracy.

Sec. 108.13 Security of airplanes and facilities. Each certificate holder required to conduct screening under a security program shall use the procedures included, and the facilities and equipment described, in its approved security program to perform the following control functions with respect to each airplane operation for which screening is required: * Prohibit unauthorized access to the airplane; * Ensure that baggage carried in the airplane is checked in by a responsible agent and that identification is obtained from persons, other than known shippers, shipping goods or cargo aboard the airplane; * Ensure that cargo and checked baggage carried aboard the airplane is handled in a manner that prohibits unauthorized access; Conduct a security inspection of the airplane before placing it in service and after it has been left unattended.

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