Safety - How Safe are our Airports?

Airports in India being under constant threat, security demands complete coordination between all agencies operating at the airport. Security has to be all pervasive and a collectively committed affair.

Are Indian airports safe? Not according to the latest Air Advisory from the US Government despite India having very stringent security measures at all airports. Airport security involves techniques, methods and procedures used to protect airports and aircraft from terrorist attack. Airports house a large number of airline employees, operating agencies and facilities that go into making travel experience a pleasure for passengers. Passengers who constitute the majority of transient occupants of airports and airplanes look forward to a safe journey to their destinations. This congregation of anonymous individuals presents a high value but soft target to terrorists.

Attacks on Land And In Air

The first known terrorist attack to destroy an aircraft in flight was against Cubana Flt 455 from Barbados to Jamaica on October 6, 1976. The deadliest terrorist attack was against Air India Flight 183 in which all 329 onboard perished. The other notable attacks include an explosion engineered onboard that brought down Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747, over Lockerbie and the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 by five Pakistani nationals belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen on December 24, 1999 while flying from Kathmandu to Delhi. All these sensational acts of terrorism pale into insignificance before the events of September 11, 2001, wherein a series of coordinated hijackings of four commercial airlines brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and a part of the Pentagon in Washington DC. In these attacks, allegedly carried out by the al-Qaeda, 2973 innocent lives were lost. Despite the stringent security measures that were introduced worldwide and billions of dollars spent on the enhancement of security in the wake of 9/11, airports practically all over the world continue to remain vulnerable with frequent cases of successful breach of security.

On Christmas last year, a Nigerian national Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear onboard North West Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. He tried to activate the explosive device with a chemical trigger injected by means of a hypodermic syringe as the aircraft was approaching Detroit. Fellow passengers later stated that he had spent about 20 minutes in the toilet and on returning to his seat, covered himself with a blanket. Passengers reportedly heard popping sounds and observed smoke and fire emanating from the cabin wall near his seat. Few of the alert passengers immediately acted to put out the fire with the help of the extinguishers onboard and even succeeded in overpowering Farouk who had attempted to prevent them from doing so. On landing, he was handed over to airport security. This was a unique case wherein passengers foiled an attempt to blow up an aircraft in mid-air.

The device with Farouk consisted of a 15 cm tube containing PETN sewn onto his underwear, which catalysed into a plastic explosive when mixed with Triacetone Triperoxide TAPN. In his confession, claiming to have been directed by al-Qaeda, he stated that he had obtained the device in Yemen. Subsequently, the al-Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation for the American role in the Yemeni military action against the organisation.

Security Measures

The US Transportation Security Administration (USTSA) issued instructions on immediate security measures, stating that individuals holding passports issued by or those travelling from or through nations that are considered as state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest, would be required to undergo enhanced screening. This could include random screening of passengers on US bound flights. In addition, passengers with bulky clothing or headwear may be subject to screening. For the last one hour of the flight passengers would not be permitted access to carry-on baggage, leave their seats or to keep anything on their laps. The measures, though bordering on the draconian, were unlikely to deter a committed terrorist as in due course, ways would be found to circumvent these.

Coincidently on the same day, Habib Hussain, a native of Moradabad traveled as stowaway in the toilet of an Air India Airbus 330 from Medina to Jaipur. The cabin crew became aware of his presence about 30 minutes into the flight when he emerged from hiding and occupied a seat. Being an employee of the baggage handling company, he had a valid security pass for the aircraft handling area at Medina but no travel documents. Having suffered extreme harassment at the hands of his employer in Medina, he was desperate to reach home. He was taken into custody on landing at Jaipur.