• Getting one's name off no-fly watch list a major hassle

    The U.S. lists 28 organizations as terrorist organizations; their total membership is estimated to be around 180,000 (of about 120,000 are members of the recently added Iranian Revolutionary Guard); yet, the U.S. terrorism no-fly watch list now contains more than 700,000 names — and it is growing by thousands every month; if your name got on the list by mistake, it is not easy to have it removed

  • airBaltic selects cockpit security from AD Aerospace

    One key security upgrade which resulted from the 9/11 attacks has been the installation of impregnable cockpit doors; locked doors means that the pilots need other means to monitor area right outside the cockpit — and airBaltic chooses AD Aerospace’s gear for that

  • TSA launches aviation security blog

    TSA launches a blog — Evolution of Security — aimed at encouraging conversations and exchanges between the traveling public and the agency’s experts on matters pertaining to air travel security

  • Aviation still a major target for terrorists

    DHS secretary Michael Chertoff says that commercial aviation is still a major target of terrorists; U.S. and European counterterrorism experts agree that U.S. faces a major threat from European-born terrorists

  • Magnetic fingerprinting to contribute to air traffic safety

    European researchers develop an innovative system which monitors tiny fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by a passing plane; system increases airport safety even in the worst weather conditions

  • Manchester airport installs first-in-U.K. iris scan access control

    The majority of airports around the world use access control cards to regulate the movement of people, but these typically require human presence at each entry point; the 25,000 staff at Manchester airport will now be using iris scans to enter restricted areas; double-door access system governed by iris recognition cameras

  • BAE in contract to defend Ospreys from ground fire

    After many years of development, and bitter debates over the craft’s safety record, the Marine Corps is ordering the tiltrotor VSTOL Osprey by the dozen; now there is a need to defend them from hostile ground fire, and BAE receives a contract to do so

  • Airport screeners use black lights to inspect ID cards

    TSA screeners at about 400 U.S. airports have began checking IDs with hand-held black lights; black lights help screeners inspect ID cards by illuminating holograms, typically of government seals, which are found in licenses and passports

  • Panel says aviation security in Israel in "catastrophic state"

    The proficiency and competence of the vaunted Israel Air Force — most recently, and mysteriously, demonstrated over the skies of Syria on 6 September — apparently does not translate into the Israeli civilian aviation system

  • Atlanta's Hartsfield second in U.S. to collect ten fingerprints

    DHS begins collecting ten fingerprints from international visitors at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Washington Dulles airport began doing so in late November; eight additional U.S. airports to implement ten-fingerprint requirement in 2008

  • TSA orders Qinetiq security system

    The U.S. Transportation Security Administration orders a dozen of SPO units from Hampshire-based Qinetiq as part of a campaign to bolster airport security; SPO units are cameras which use millimeter wave technology combined with software algorithms to screen people one at a time — and do so from a distance of a few meters

  • Passengers on Israel-to-Canada flight become ill with Noro virus

    Several passengers on Air Canada flight become severely ill with gastroenteritis; 75 of the 201 passengers kept in isolation at Toronto airport for further examination

  • CAST launches new air safety Web site

    The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) was formed in 1998; the voluntary association comprises government agencies, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, additional aviation industry members, employee representatives, and others who have a stake in commercial aviation security; after nine years of safety initiatives, the partnership says that the fatality risk of commercial air travel in the United States has been reduced by 83 percent

  • D.C. area flight restriction to be imposed during State of the Union Address

    The Federal Aviation Administration, at the request of DHS and the Pentagon, will be modifying the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and Washington Metropolitan Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) with additional flight restrictions on 28 January 2008

  • Trial begins for laser-jamming systems on commercial airlines

    Three American Airlines Boeing 767-200s which fly daily round-trip routes between New York and California will be equipped with BAE’s anti-missile laser jammers this spring; part of DHS $29 million trial