Minimising threats in the air

The technology to combat security threats to aircraft is evolving constantly, writes Judith Crosbie.

The attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 focused the minds of political leaders and security experts on airports. The immediate fallout meant increased screening of passengers and restrictions on what could be taken onboard a flight.

But subsequent incidents at airports have led to even more changes in air travel security. After UK national Richard Reid in December 2001 allegedly tried to set fire to explosives in his shoes while on a flight from Paris to Miami, passengers were screened even more thoroughly, often being asked to remove their shoes and have them screened separately.

Last year British police uncovered an alleged plot to blow up planes destined for the US using liquid explosives. This resulted in restrictions on passengers bringing liquids onboard and separate screening for liquids across the EU. An attack in Glasgow last June when a burning car carrying explosives was driven into the side of the airport’s main building has again shown that air travel is one of the main targets for terrorist groups.

The type of technology to combat this security threat is evolving constantly. Currently, X-ray machines are used at airports to detect carbon - a component present in all explosives. Vapour machines are also used which can detect seven types of other chemicals that might be present in explosives, said Christophe Naudin, researcher at the University of Paris II’s department of criminal contemporary threats.

Naudin said that in the near future we can expect a new type of technology which analyses the components of chemicals using light. "It involves micro-detection which will take the form of a sort of metal detector. It takes a sample of air through which the presence of different types of chemicals can be detected," he said.

The advantage of this technology is that it will not require passengers to remove clothing or have items screened separately but it is costly so its introduction has been slow.

Though liquid explosives have been the recent threat on which aviation experts have focused, said Naudin, toxic chemicals - which can be released in the air - could be the next. "I am very concerned because we have a lot of intelligence telling us that criminal groups are training themselves to build this type of weapon," he said, adding: "The best place to use them is in a plane which is closed."

Security technologies at airports appear to annoy passengers but some are designed to speed their transit. ‘Trusted travellers’ programmes have been introduced in many airports through which passengers can submit information in advance of travel - such as fingerprints or digital facial images, allowing them to avoid lengthy queues at normal security checks.

Such innovations have had a great impact but civil liberties groups are worried about the profiling that is carried out at airports based on the information supplied to security authorities. The ever-growing intrusion of surveillance and screening at airports is also criticised.

The European Parliament recently voted for a resolution calling on the European Commission to review the restrictions on liquids carried onboard because of the inconvenience it was causing to passengers and the absence of hard data showing that it was achieving gains in security. The Commission, however, said that the measure could not be relaxed while the threat remained.

Airports have had to bear the brunt of the costs of the measures in terms of investments in new technology and the increased staff needed to examine screens and passengers. Bruno Macedo, security policy manager at the Airports Council International, said that the liquids measure alone drove up costs by 40% for some airport operators.

The technology gets outdated quickly and is often targeted at a specific threat, such as shoes, cabin luggage or liquids.

"We would like to see one screening point and when we are faced with a new threat, such as with liquids, the machines could be adapted using new software," Macedo said.

A revision of a 2002 regulation on common rules across the EU on civil aviation could see new provisions established on whether airports or governments should shoulder the burden of paying for new technology at airports to counter threats.

But as technology will play its part in helping make airports and aircraft safer, investing in the training of personnel handling the new technology is a pressing issue. Naudin said that current technology as it is used is not capable of detecting explosives properly because the staff using them at airports are not sufficiently trained. "There are good machines but the people using them don’t know the possibilities they have in terms of what they can find," he said.

Exporting security measures

The European Commission is about to conclude an agreement with Singapore to introduce in the Asian state the same security measures as those in the EU.

Such an agreement would allow passengers transiting through the different EU airports to keep any duty-free liquids they had bought in Singapore airport. Currently passengers flying from outside the Union and transiting through European airports have duty free bottles taken from them since EU-wide rules impose restrictions on the amount of liquid which can be brought on board an aircraft. Commission inspection teams want to ensure that all standards in third countries - such as for sealable bags, training of personnel and screening of liquids - meet EU security standards before allowing passengers to carry duty-free liquids.

The Commission is seeking to negotiate similar agreements with Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Bangkok, but an accord with the US is proving difficult. "There seems to be a general reluctance to commit to the system that there is in Europe," said Frank O’Connell, president of the European Travel Retail Council.

"But by getting in place an agreement with Singapore the US might see the advantage in it," he added. O’Connell said it was urgent that the agreements be finalised since the quantity of liquids being taken off transiting passengers has not dropped off since the restrictions were introduced nearly a year ago.

The technology to combat security threats to aircraft is evolving constantly, writes Judith Crosbie.