This book addresses new technologies being considered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for screening airport passengers for concealed weapons and explosives. The FAA is supporting the development of promising new technologies that can reveal the presence not only of metal-based weapons as with current screening technologies, but also detect plastic explosives and other non-metallic threat materials and objects, and is concerned that these new technologies may not be appropriate for use in airports for other than technical reasons. This book presents discussion of the health, legal, and public acceptance issues that are likely to be raised regarding implementation of improvements in the current electromagnetic screening technologies, implementation of screening systems that detect traces of explosive materials on passengers, and implementation of systems that generate images of passengers beneath their clothes for analysis by human screeners.

The Definitive Handbook on Terrorist Threats to Commercial Airline and Airport SecurityConsidered the definitive handbook on the terrorist threat to commercial airline and airport security, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Sweet‘s seminal resource is now updated to include an analysis of modern day risks. She covers the history of aviation security

As international terrorism has grown over the past decades, airlines and airports have become increasingly popular targets for violent attacks and hijackings. In this volume, Peter St. John provides a survey of international air piracy and airline terrorism, and of the ways airline professionals and governments are coping, or attempting to cope, with the crisis. St. John not only deals with the history, politics, psychology, and sociology of air piracy, but also provides an assessment of the threat to commercial aircraft and ways to counter the danger. The principal theme he develops is that security for airports and aircraft can be achieved, and the fear of terrorists overcome, if Western countries cooperate in installing effective security policies and plans. St. John begins his work with a two-chapter history of the evolution of hijacking, tracing the five-to-seven-year cycles that seem to have emerged and the growth of the politically motivated hijacking that has become the most persistent and dangerous form. He next analyzes the eight types of individuals who have hijacked aircraft in the past, their different motives, and how they can be identified by airport security and flight crews. A major chapter discusses the politics of Western governments toward highjacking in Europe and North America, and identifies the best and worst airports around the globe. A seven-stage system of security that will probably be a necessity for the 1990s is also proposed. Ensuing chapters address the problem of the hijacked plane, offering advice for passengers and crew members who are victims of hijacking, and for government behavior, which often does more to encourage air terrorism than to prevent it. Finally, St. John looks to the future of airport security and describes the need for a concentrated attempt at all levels of national and international government to develop effective defenses against air piracy. A group of appendices is also included, documenting the principal hijacks of the past forty years as well as sabotage attempts on commercial aircraft. This work will be an important reference tool for professionals in security services and the airline and airport management field, and for students in political science and international relations courses. It will also be a valuable addition to college, university, and public libraries.

Chapter One summarises research on the seismic performance of air traffic control (ATC) towers, discusses their shortcomings and puts forward recommendations for future studies. Chapter Two covers the construction of an airport for the capital of Germany that has an erratic history dating back to the early nineties. During the long planning period, the employment impacts of a major airport played an important role in the public dialogue. This chapter sets out how a scenario technique was used to calculate employment effects related to this major airport project. Chapter Three analyses airport security in the Czech Republic regarding the Safety Risk Management (SRM) setting including the Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) with respect to economic aspects of the issue. The chapter also includes statistical backstage pointing to the topicality of this issue. Chapter Four uses the case of Atlanta Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport (ATL) to illustrate the links between airport capacity management and passenger satisfaction measured as airlines on-time performance. Chapter Five covers the potential benefits from using Linked Data technologies in emergency scenarios and presents the authors applications for improved emergency response.

Two million people fly commercially every day in the United States, and every single passenger must interact with members of airport security. Why do travelers put up with long lines and invasive screenings? Why do Transportation Security Administration officers (TSOs) put up with the disrespect and anger directed at them? Shawna Malvini Redden asked these questions for years—interviewing passenger and security officers alike, taking note of everything from carry-on bananas to passengers who fumed when their water bottles were confiscated. Malvini Redden encountered a range of passengers: the entitled business travelers; the parents with toddlers; the hot mess, travels-once-a-year, can’t-figure-out-how-to-get-through-the-security-checkpoint-without-crying flier. The answers, Malvini Redden admitted, were far more complex than she anticipated. 101 Pat-Downs is the story of Malvini Redden’s research journey, part confessional, part investigative research, and part light-hearted social commentary. In it she illuminates common experiences in airport security checkpoints specifically focused on emotion and identity, presenting the inside scoop on airport security interactions via her experiences and those of passengers and TSOs. Along the way Malvini Redden introduces common characters of airport security, humanizing the stereotypically gruff TSO and explaining in a social-science framework why so many passengers feel nervous inside TSA checkpoints. Ultimately, Malvini Redden shows how people navigate communication in complex interpersonal situations and offers research-driven suggestions for improving interactions for passengers and TSOs alike.

This report assesses the operational performance of explosives-detection equipment and hardened unit-loading devices (HULDs) in airports and compares their operational performance to their laboratory performance, with a focus on improving aviation security.

The growing number of terrorist attacks throughout the world continues to turn the interest of scholars and governments towards security issues. As part of the Comparative Perspectives on Transportation Security series, this book provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the security challenges confronting air transportation. The first part encompasses the industry's characteristics and the policy, economic and regulatory issues shaping the security environment. The second provides a comparative analysis of security policies and practices in several key countries.