[ RadSafe ] Government Report Warns of Security Holes in Aviation Chartered Planes, Helicopters Seen as Possible Targets

[Sandy Perle]

NOTE the intended use of helicopters!!!!


Government Report Warns of Security Holes in Aviation
Chartered Planes, Helicopters Seen as Possible Targets

By ERIC LICHTBLAU, The New York Times

WASHINGTON (March 13) - Despite a huge investment in security, the 
American aviation system remains vulnerable to attack by al-Qaida and 
other jihadist terrorist groups, with noncommercial planes and 
helicopters offering terrorists particularly tempting targets, a 
confidential government report concludes.

Intelligence indicates that al-Qaida may have discussed plans to 
hijack chartered planes, helicopters and other general aviation 
aircraft for attacks because they are less well-guarded than 
commercial airliners, according to a previously undisclosed 24-page 
special assessment on aviation security by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security two weeks ago.

But commercial airliners are also "likely to remain a target and a 
platform for terrorists," the report says, and members of al-Qaida 
appear determined to study and test new American security measures to 
"uncover weaknesses."

The assessment comes as the Bush administration, with a new 
intelligence structure and many new counterterrorism leaders in 
place, is taking stock of terrorists' capabilities and of the 
country's ability to defend itself.

While Homeland Security and the F.B.I. routinely put out advisories 
on aviation issues, the special joint assessment is an effort to give 
a broader picture of the state of knowledge of all issues affecting 
aviation security, officials said.

The analysis appears to rely on intelligence gathered from sources 
overseas and elsewhere about al-Qaida and other jihadist and Islamic-
based terrorist groups.

A separate report issued last month by Homeland Security concluded 
that developing a clear framework for prioritizing possible targets - 
a task many Democrats say has lagged - is critical because "it is 
impossible to protect all of the infrastructure sectors equally 
across the entire United States."

The aviation sector has received the majority of domestic security 
investments since the Sept. 11 attacks, with more than $12 billion 
spent on upgrades like devices to detect explosives, armored cockpit 
doors, federalized air screeners and additional air marshals.  
    
Indeed, some members of Congress and security experts now consider 
airplanes to be so well fortified that they say it is time to shift 
resources to other vulnerable sectors, like ports and power plants.

In the area of rail safety, for instance, Democrats are pushing a 
$1.1 billion plan to plug what they see as glaring vulnerabilities. 
"This is a disaster waiting to happen," Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., 
Democrat of Delaware, said last week at a Senate hearing marking the 
one-year anniversary of the deadly train bombings in Madrid.

Still, the new aviation assessment, examining dozens of airline 
incidents both before and after the Sept. 11 attacks, makes clear 
that counterterrorism officials still consider the aviation industry 
to be perhaps the prime target for another major attack because of 
the spectacular nature of such strikes.

The assessment, which showed that the F.B.I. handled more than 500 
criminal investigations involving aircraft in 2003, will likely serve 
as a guide for considering further security restrictions in general 
aviation and other areas considered particularly vulnerable, the 
officials said.

The report, dated Feb. 25, was distributed internally to federal and 
state counterterrorism and aviation officials, and a copy was 
obtained by The Times. It warns that security upgrades since the 
Sept. 11 attacks have "reduced, but not eliminated" the prospect of 
similar attacks.

"Spectacular terrorist attacks can generate an outpouring of support 
for the perpetrators from sympathizers and terrorism sponsors with 
similar agendas," the report said. "The public fear resulting from a 
terrorist hijacking or aircraft bombing also serves as a powerful 
motivator for groups seeking to further their causes."

The report detailed particular vulnerabilities in what it called "the 
largely unregulated" area of general aviation, which includes 
corporate jets, private planes and other unscheduled aircraft.

"As security measures improve at large commercial airports, 
terrorists may choose to rent or steal general aviation aircraft 
housed at small airports with little or no security," the report 
said.

The report also said that al-Qaida "has apparently considered the use 
of helicopters as an alternative to recruiting operatives for fixed-
wing aircraft operations." The maneuverability and "nonthreatening 
appearance" of helicopters, even when flying at low altitudes above 
urban areas, make them attractive targets for terrorists to conduct 
suicide attacks on landmarks or to spray toxins below, the report 
said.

The assessment does not identify who might be in a position to carry 
out such domestic attacks.

While law enforcement officials have spoken repeatedly about their 
concerns over so-called sleeper cells operating within the United 
States, a separate F.B.I. report first disclosed last week by ABC 
News indicated that evidence pointing to the existence of such cells 
was inconclusive.

The question of how well the government is protecting airline 
travelers surfaced again last month after the disclosure in a Sept. 
11 commission investigation that in the months leading up to the 
attack, federal officials received 52 warnings about al-Qaida and 
Osama bin Laden, some warning specifically about hijackings and 
suicide operations.

Federal officials now say they have taken a number of steps to 
tighten security for helicopters, chartered flights and the like in 
response to perceived threats, as they did last August in temporarily 
ordering federal security guards and tougher screening for helicopter 
tours in the New York City area.

Rear Adm. David M. Stone, an assistant secretary at the Department of 
Homeland Security who oversees the Transportation Security 
Administration, said that "the report validates T.S.A.'s sense of 
urgency in our daily efforts to secure aviation, and that same sense 
of urgency can be found in our work securing every other mode of 
transportation."

The report also sought to codify the various responsibilities for 
aviation security in the increasingly complex labyrinth of federal 
agencies, and it examined 33 terrorist plots against airplanes inside 
and out of the United States over the years.

Of the more than 500 criminal cases involving aircraft handled by the 
F.B.I. in 2003, two were hijackings in the United States involving 
flights from Cuba that landed in Florida. More than 300 episodes 
involved undeclared weapons or other problems at screening and 
security checkpoints, while 175 cases were triggered by on-board 
interference or threats against crew members, often involving 
alcohol.

In one case, a passenger sprayed perfume at a flight attendant "in a 
hostile manner," the report said.


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Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1902 

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at earthlink.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/