AVIATION INCIDENTS | Airplane Accidents, Crashes, Missing

[hkskyline]

For Security Ideas, Ask Business Travelers
29 December 2009
The New York Times

WHEN there is trouble, it sometimes makes sense to listen to the experts.

By that I mean hard-core business travelers. I've been hearing from a lot of them since that nasty business on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Most said the same thing: it's a mistake to overreact to one incident by ratcheting up security to the point where normal travel is further discouraged. Get some perspective, they said.

The one who said it best was Douglas J. Engmann, the president of Engmann Options, a financial services firm in San Francisco, who says he flies about 200,000 miles a year. He contends that stricter security screening ordered by the Transportation Security Administration will do little or nothing to shield the air travel system from terrorism and do a lot to discourage business travelers from going on the road.

''I was frustrated to read about what I saw as a knee-jerk reaction,'' he said.

The T.S.A. ordered more thorough screenings of passengers and their belongings, including more physical pat-downs. On international flights to the United States, passengers can expect to be screened at the gate.

The T.S.A. initially reacted by banning passengers on international flights into the United States from getting out of their seats or having any access to personal belongings for an hour before arrival time. But on Monday, the agency eased those restrictions, leaving such measures to the discretion of a flight's captain.

Frequent fliers say they understand that a fast, hard tightening of security may be justifiable while the authorities determine whether there is a wider plot. ''Right away, you lower the boom,'' Mr. Engmann said.

But adding more disruption to the security process would be a mistake, he said. ''It's not that we don't adjust. Business travelers are accustomed to knowing the rules and making do with them,'' he said. ''Yet right now, you have to wonder about the balance between totally inconveniencing the traveling public versus what is the threat.''

Kevin Mitchell, the chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said that ''security lines lengthened literally overnight'' at airports after the stricter measures were put into place. He said that ''extra screening will be a hassle, especially for time-sensitive business travelers.''

He also said it was unconscionable that the T.S.A. had not had a permanent director for almost a year. President Obama's nominee to the post, Erroll G. Southers, has been blocked from confirmation by Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican. Mr. DeMint has asked Mr. Southers, a former F.B.I. agent, to clarify his position on whether T.S.A. workers have a right to be unionized. Mr. Southers is currently the assistant chief for homeland security and intelligence at Los Angeles International Airport and a well-known academic authority on terrorism risk analysis.

On his Web site, aviationplanning.com, the airline consultant Michael Boyd summed up the situation this way: ''A clown who was known to be a suspected terrorist is allowed to board a Delta flight at Amsterdam,'' and is subdued by passengers and crew when he tries to set off an explosive strapped to his leg. How, Mr. Boyd asked, does ordering an ''increase in the pointy-object patrol'' rummaging through carry-on bags for screwdrivers, address such an issue?

Obviously, the debate about effective security and antiterrorism intelligence will continue for some time. So let's step back and look for some advice from experts like Mr. Engmann.

Once the T.S.A. does get a permanent director and a firmer footing, how about asking business travelers to join serious discussions on ''how things are really working, and what can be done?'' he suggested.

''I go through, what, 150 T.S.A. checkpoints a year? People like us, we notice things,'' he said. ''If you think about it, we're also the ones who are most at risk, because we're flying the most. So we're not ones who want to make it easy for a terrorist to get on an airplane. On the other hand, we're the ones who have the most experience at going through the checkpoints and observing.''

Air travel security is a three-legged stool. One leg is the effectiveness of the T.S.A; another is the fortified airplane cockpit doors that make it unlikely that terrorists will ever again commandeer a plane as a guided missile; and the third is vigilant passengers who will fight back, as they did on Friday.

''We're the first responders, basically,'' Mr. Engmann said. ''Passengers stopped and flight attendants stopped this guy from doing more damage.''

''In my view, the message going back to Al Qaeda, or whoever, is: 'Look, you can try this. But passengers are not going to let you get away with it. And you may want to try to make flying like being in prison for us, but we're just not going to allow you to do that to us either.' ''

[Mr_Dru]

Schiphol: Bodyscan for all passengers traveling to US.

Within three weeks Schiphol is going to use all the 15 bodyscan for the US-routes.




http://www.ad.nl/

[Henk]

It's not a bodyscan, it's a security scan. Only the custems have one bodyscan at Schiphol East.

[hkskyline]

Is this the type of scanner that has prompted concerns since it basically strips the clothes off and shows a picture of the passenger's whole body?

Thought I heard the Americans are thinking of using new technology that is less intrusive.

[Henk]

Yes it is.

The image that the operator or computer sees is not the image of a body what the people think.

The image that the operator sees is the same as this example.



In addition the operator is in a closed room somewhere else on the airport so he never knows who is in the securtiyscan. All he sees are these images.
As a trained operator can tell you that if you've seen pictures of people daily in the security scan you really do not know how many and who you've seen.
The scans are now used on a voluntary basis and it works very well and quickly. I also use them if the option is there.

Violation of privacy is absolutely no question because nobody knows who the one on the image.

[KB]

I wouldn't mind that either...given the scan can not be stored, printed to communicated and the man at the computer cannot see the person while the security officer at the screening station cannot see the scan. In addition to that, the face is blurred so I see no problems with that.

[hkskyline]

Canadian judge approves $11M settlement for Air France passengers in 2005 Toronto incident
31 December 2009

TORONTO (AP) - A Canadian judge has approved a class-action settlement worth 12 million Canadian dollars ($11 million) with 184 passengers of an Air France jet that overran a Toronto airport runway during a violent rainstorm four years ago.

Air France will pay 10 million Canadian dollars plus interest into a settlement fund in exchange for the release of all claims arising from Flight 358.

Flight 358 was en route from Paris when it encountered a severe thunderstorm as it touched down at Lester B. Pearson International Airport on Aug. 2, 2005. It ran off the rain-slicked runway and into a ravine, bursting into flames.

About 60 passengers were forced to jump from the plane due to faulty or damaged evacuation slides.

All passengers and 12 crew survived, but 33 were taken to hospital.

Airbus S.A.S., manufacturer of the A340 jet, and Goodrich Corp., maker of the emergency evacuation system and slides for the aircraft, will pay $1.65 million Canadian dollars into the fund for a similar release of claims.

Judge Joan Lax said the settlement was fair in her judgment, dated December 24 but released in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday.

[Henk]

Authorities say an Air Berlin plane headed for Spain's Canary Islands has come off the runway at Dortmund airport in western Germany but no one was injured.
Airline spokeswoman Diane Daedelow said Sunday the pilot of the Air Berlin Boeing 737-800, with 165 passengers and six crew members on board, had decided to abort the takeoff because of a "technical irregularity" that is still being examined. The aircraft braked but came off the runway in wintry conditions.
Daedelow said the plane was undamaged and passengers were able to leave the aircraft normally using steps.
She added that the passengers and their luggage were being taken to nearby Paderborn airport, from where another aircraft was to fly them to Las Palmas.
Dortmund airport said the accident happened at 7:05 a.m. (0605GMT).
030955 jan 10GMT

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/wir...no-one-injured

[Cosmin]

Glad nobody was injured and the aircraft only sustained minor damage.


http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-B...86J/1635179/L/

Strange... it looks so nice on the snow there... almost at peace.

[hkskyline]

BAA to introduce full-body scanners at UK's Heathrow
3 January 2010

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - British airport operator BAA said on Sunday it would move quickly to install full-body scanners at London's Heathrow airport after the failed Christmas Day attack on a U.S.-bound plane.

"Now that the government has given the go-ahead, we will introduce full-body scanners as soon as practical," a spokesman for BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, told Reuters.

"It is our view that a combination of technology, intelligence and passenger profiling will help build a more robust defence against the unpredictable and changing nature of the terrorist threat to aviation," he said.

He said BAA, which operates six British airports, was just looking at introducing the scanners at Heathrow -- Europe's busiest airport by passenger numbers -- at this stage. He could not give a timetable for their introduction or say how much the move would cost.

The Netherlands and Nigeria said last week they would use full-body scanners at airports after the failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane by a 23-year-old Nigerian suspect who passed through both countries.

Full-body scanners, unlike standard archway metal detectors used in airports around the world, use radio waves to generate a picture of the body that can see through a person's clothing and spot hidden weapons or packages.

DOUBTS OVER EFFECTIVENESS

But Britain's Independent on Sunday newspaper cast doubt on whether the scanners would have been effective in detecting the type of explosive used in the Christmas Day incident.

BAA said last week the introduction of full-body scanners would require a change in European legislation.

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who ordered a review of security measures at British airports after the attempted Dec. 25 attack, said on Sunday the scanners would be phased in.

"In airports, people will see gradually being brought in the use of full-body scanners. They will see checks for explosive traces. That will be done on hand luggage. Transit passengers will also be checked ...," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr.

"The scanners are already being ordered by British Airports Authority (BAA)," he said.

A trial of full-body scanning has been underway at Britain's Manchester airport, which is not operated by BAA, since October but a spokesman said last week the airport had taken no decision on whether it would adopt the technology.

In Germany, Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan told Bild am Sonntag newspaper Germany could introduce body scanners later this year. The government has made clear it is not against the scanners in principle but is trying to guarantee privacy rights.

Italy aims to install full-body scanners at the main airports of Rome and Milan for flights considered at high risk of terrorist attack, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told Corriere della Sera newspaper on Saturday.

[Mr_Dru]

Originally Posted by Henk

Yes it is.

The image that the operator or computer sees is not the image of a body what the people think.

The image that the operator sees is the same as this example.



In addition the operator is in a closed room somewhere else on the airport so he never knows who is in the securtiyscan. All he sees are these images.
As a trained operator can tell you that if you've seen pictures of people daily in the security scan you really do not know how many and who you've seen.
The scans are now used on a voluntary basis and it works very well and quickly. I also use them if the option is there.

Violation of privacy is absolutely no question because nobody knows who the one on the image.

Schiphol placed new orders of 60 extra security/bodyscans. (€240 million)

[siamu maharaj]

What happens if someone says no to being scanned by these machines? I can totally see most Pakistanis doing that. Would they be told to go back?

[Henk]

The people who don't want to go in the securityscan have to be searched by hand.

[KB]

Originally Posted by Mr_Dru

Schiphol placed new orders of 60 extra security/bodyscans. (€240 million)

The company(ies) making those machines would be laughing their way to the bank and thanking that mutalib or whoever he was, assuming they didn't hire him in the first place.

[siamu maharaj]

Originally Posted by Henk

The people who don't want to go in the securityscan have to be searched by hand.

BTW, are people not searched by hand (frisk/pat down) now? In Pakistan that's been the norm since at least early 80's when I first flew. I for the life of me can't remember how I've been searched abroad. The only thing I remember is being put in a huge scanner once coz of some asshole. Scary!

[eomer]

Originally Posted by Henk

The people who don't want to go in the securityscan have to be searched by hand.

Waow...is it a full search ?

[HD]

the big freeze in europe strikes again:

this time a boeing 737 came off the runway at nuremberg airport - happened about an hour ago.

fortunately no one of the 114 people on board was hurt. the plane was en route to dortmund, where another plane came off the runway only a few days ago due to the weather conditions.

source: dpa

[siamu maharaj]

That's about the 5th 737 to have done that this winters. And I think the 737 is the only plane that's been sliding on runways.

[GlasgowMan]

Originally Posted by siamu maharaj

That's about the 5th 737 to have done that this winters. And I think the 737 is the only plane that's been sliding on runways.

Kingston, Glasgow, Dortmund and now Nuremberg. Where did the other one come off?

[siamu maharaj]

Jamaica I think.