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

[John Jacobus]

Are we supposed to be impressed?  This scenario was
proposed after the attack on the World Trade Center
towers.  I am surprised no one has taken out the San
Francisco Bridge yet.

In the book and movie "Black Sunday," they used a
blimp. 
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?pwb=1&ean=9780451204158

--- Sandy Perle <sandyfl at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 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 
=== message truncated ===


+++++++++++++++++++
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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