Identifying and Preventing Aviation Security Threats

August 7, 2014 - ALPA works with government agencies, law enforcement, and its aviation industry partners to identify and prevent criminal and terrorist threats to safeguard commercial flight. In a panel discussion titled, “Current Security Threats and Countermeasures,” representatives from these different entities examined the security challenges confronting aviation and the actions that can be taken to neutralize them.

“ALPA strongly believes that the key to our future security success is by having the right mindset, where we focus on being preventative as opposed to being reactive for security challenges,” said Capt. Fred Eissler (FDX), ALPA’s Aviation Security chair and moderator for this important discussion. “This goal is accomplished through collaboration and education with industry, law enforcement, and government security agencies, while developing mitigating strategies together.”

William Stone, head of FBI’s Civil Aviation Security Program, said his biggest concern in civil aviation is the insider threat. This includes anyone who has access to an airport with a secure identification display area badge who could bring a weapon into a secured area. Stone noted that the FBI is conducting risk assessments at airports in collaboration with the TSA and others.

Mike Garrett, Boeing’s director of Aviation Security for Commercial Airplanes, said that he’s chiefly concerned about the growing need for cybersecurity. While physical security, with its airport/airline focus, is largely concerned with keeping bad people off of airplanes, with cybersecurity, the scope is much broader and harder to identify. Boeing is looking at cyber abilities to potentially take over airplanes. However, aircraft redundancies and a pilot’s ability to operate the aircraft pose challenges for those exploring this kind of malfeasance.

There are three primary areas of threat, said Randy Harrison, managing director of Corporate Security for Delta Air Lines: within the aircraft, including terrorists or others with criminal intent; outside the aircraft, including man-portable air-defense systems and other weapons; and integrated into the aircraft, or the systems on the aircraft that support the operation and the business platforms that interact with customers. These are all areas that Delta is working with industry partners to safeguard.

Victoria Newhouse, deputy assistant administrator for the TSA’s Office of Security Policy and Industry Engagement, talked about the agency’s paradigm shift to risk-based security. The TSA has moved away from the mindset of being the “rule people” and is concentrating its resources and working with its partners to focus on those we don’t know and others who pose a potential threat. Newhouse talked about pilots as a layer of this security, and how they contribute to make the system more secure and cited the Known Crewmember program as an example of a layer of risk-based security.

Claudio Manno, assistant administrator for the FAA’s Office of Security and Hazardous Materials Safety, noted that many of the latest threats are coming from non-state actors and regions that have not traditionally been areas of concern for aviation, such as Ukraine. Manno reviewed a number of vehicles for addressing responses, including the Crisis Management Handbook and the FAA’s Crisis Response Working Group and Steering Group, which determines whether NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) or special federal aviation regulations are warranted to advise airlines and pilots of hazardous airspace.