Edna Chirico and Transportation Consulting: Screening for Problems on Airliners Is Not Simple

Green Moose Consulting has expertise in a myriad form of transportation modes whether they be light rail to University City; trucks on the highways; intercity passenger trains; or regional or national airlines. My specialty or rather specialties in those areas in advising Edna Chirico are in the areas of security - often counterterrorism but also in dealing with other threats to the supply chain and passengers. Several recent incidents during the past couple of weeks have raised concerns about aviation security, known to professionals in the field as “AVSEC.” The subject that has been highlighted is that of screening of passengers under the requirements of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 17 of the 1944 Chicago Convention. As a preface and disclaimer I will warn that in this blog I will not consider commentary from those trolls who maintain that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners are “goons” or “storm troopers” for violating their constitutional rights. Actually, our government with the approval of the Senate and the Supreme Court has determined that our Constitutional rights regarding reasonable search are respected by Annex 17 of the 1944 Chicago Convention which established the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO which is the UN organization which establishes international law for civil aviation. Annex 17 provides the basis for security against civil aviation crime and terrorism, and our TSA writes our screening and other regulatory rules to adhere to those requirements. So, get in step with the rest of the civilized world. Aircrew, such as pilots and flight attendants, are subject to the same rules as passengers. The challenges that we face are international in nature and last Tuesday morning I commented in Spanish on Radio Mambi Channel 710, part of the Univision Network, about a recent incident in Switzerland that actually started unfloding inthe Horn of Africa. We observed that screening is only part of the AVSEC shield. A co-pilot on an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound from Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital for Rome hijacked the Boeing 787 airliner early Monday morning and flew it to Geneva, Switzerland, looking for asylum. The co-pilot went through the same screening the rest of the crew and passengers did. According to CNN, n Monday's incident, Flight 702 had taken off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and was headed to Rome, the airline said. The co-pilot took control of the plane when the pilot went to the restroom, said Swiss police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt. The co-pilot, closed the fortified door, police said. Instead of Rome, he then steered the plane toward Geneva. At one point, as the plane hovered over Geneva's airspace several times, he asked the control tower: "And you have to give us lastly permission on board for asylum." "Yes I know," the tower responded. "Sorry, but we are still waiting for the response. We are trying our best to get you the response, sir. Eventually, the plane landed at Geneva International Airport. "I will be coming out via the window," the co-pilot told the control tower. He then escaped through the cockpit window using a rope, (such “ropes” are standard escape equipment in most airliner cockpits) and surrendered to police, Brandt said. He was unarmed, authorities said. "His act has been motivated by the fact that he feels threatened in his county and wants to make an asylum claim in Switzerland," Swiss police spokesman Philippe Grangean said. The passengers were not threatened or put in danger, police said. This incident and an earlier attempted hijacking of a Pegasus Airlines flight from Kharkov in Ukraine to Sochi, Russia but which actually continued fairly uneventfully to Istanbul, Turkey the intended destination have demonstrated the fact that screening of passengers through technical means such as x-rays and actual body searches is not an end all and is certainly not the only defense we have against attempts to interfere with or inflict terror on civil aviation. Screening is defined by Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention as: The application of technical or other means which are intended to identify and/or detect weapons, explosives or other dangerous devices, articles or substances which may be used to commit an act of unlawful interference. It should be clear that screening does not include such defensive means as interrogations, psychological profiling, or surveillance techniques commonly used by intelligence or law enforcement agencies. In the case of the Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot’s diverting the aircraft; screening would not have had any influence on the course of events. An airline pilot has the knowledge to take that type of action and there is little that can be done to prevent such behavior. This was also demonstrated in March 2012 when a JetBlue captain who was locked out of the cockpit by his co-pilot and tackled by passengers March 27 after becoming erratic during flight. On Oct. 31, 1999, an Egyptair flight crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Massachusetts after the co-pilot shut off the engines and dove, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. All 217 people aboard died. As for the fellow on the Pegasus Airlines flight, he had no explosives or other items that would have been revealed by screening. Alcohol consumption might have been a factor. There are no easy fixes to aviation security and preventing dangerous situations from developing on an aircraft. Unfortunately the media and the blogosphere are filled with so-called experts who do not have the combined aviation, law enforcement, intelligence, or legal expertise that needs to be brought to bear to face the challenges presented by terrorists, common criminals and simple unsafe practices. I have been fortunate to have been affiliated with the US Government and also with Safety and Security Instruction (SSI) and the International Air Transport Association in facilitating AVSEC training courses and practices. In the Carolinas I am associated with Edna Chirico and Green Moose Consulting in working with such organizations as SSI to bring the best in aviation – and all forms of transportation security to our clients and communities.