Aviation Safety

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Significance of the Aviation Safety5

Air Travel Security and its Costs6

Fine against Airlines7

Security Restrictions at UK airports9

Travelling Through the Airport: Pre-Departure9

Aviation Drug-Trafficking Control Act11

The Experience of Passengers over the Next Few Years12

References15

Aviation Safety

Introduction

Of all the targets available to terrorists, airports have proven to be one of the most important. Although there have been comparatively few attacks on airports and aviation, such attacks have been among the deadliest in terms of human lives and economic impact. Airports make attractive targets because a successful strike can inflict a large number of casualties and disrupt air travel. Terrorists seeking to attack planes must usually try to smuggle themselves or their explosives, or both, through airport checkpoints. Thus, airport security involves not only ensuring a secure environment at the airport itself, but also implementing effective procedures to prevent terrorists from attacking planes. Safeguarding airports is extremely difficult because of the volume of flights involved. To handle the thousands of flights, millions of passengers, billions of pieces of baggage, and tons of freight that flow through American airports every year, aviation relies on an extensive infrastructure that is highly dependent on complex telecommunications technologies. The tragedy of the 9/11 attacks vividly demonstrated the inadequacy of the measures that had been in place at U.S. airports and brought about the implementation of numerous new measures designed to enhance security (Seidenstat, 2004).

Because aviation is a global activity, airport security also requires international cooperation. U.S. airlines fly to numerous foreign airports and are linked through code sharing and other arrangements with other airlines. At the same time, planes from any different countries bring millions of passengers to the United States. The interconnected nature of air travel raises complex security issues.

Air Safety is a series of precautions taken to ensure the safety of passengers and cargo in flight. Commercial flights are one of the safest forms of transport. In relation to the distance traveled, the probability of an accident is only a tenth of the safest forms of ground transportation and in terms of travel time is unmatched. The air crash deaths worldwide are only a third of those killed on the roads of Britain. However, when an accident is often catastrophic and is the subject of enormous publicity, often disproportionate. The current target for civil transport aircraft is that the total probabilities of occurrence of a catastrophic accident are of one per ten million flight hours, although so far not been achieved. General aviation and particularly helicopter operations are more dangerous (Wald, 2004).

The costs of security at British and American airports to meet the terrorist threat has increased 150% since the attacks of September 11, 2001 against the United States, reported yesterday by industry representatives. The British Air Transport Association said the sector cannot cope with these escalating costs, currently fully funded airports. Since the attacks of 11-S, the British and American government has introduced restrictions on hand luggage, has banned carrying liquids on board and, more recently, has urged distance the area for vehicles in airport ...