Brandt (2011) defines a terrorist as a person who uses violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims. During 9/11, al-Qaida destroyed the World Trade Center’s towers, using four U.S commercial airliners where they damaged the Pentagon, and killed almost 3,000 people. The U.S had to enforce counterterrorism measures, such as sending military troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S managed to capture many al-Qaida members and to kill the terrorist group leader Osama bin Laden (Brandt, 2011).
Brandt (2011) pointed out that since 9/11, several commercial aviations have been targeted by al Qaida. There was the threat of in December 2001 targeting shoe bomber. In Kenya year 2002, an Israeli airliner was targeted to be shot down. In 2006, there was the liquid explosives plot against transatlantic flights. In 2009, there was the Christmas Day plot and the cargo bomb plots in 2010. There was a plot to hijack an airliner in an International Airport in Singapore and crash it into Changi in 2002. El Al ticket counter shootings occurred at Los Angeles International Airport in 2002. Two Russian airliner bombings occurred in the year 2004. Three terrorists attempted an attack on Glasgow airport in the year 2007. The Sauerland cell plotted against Frankfurt at JFK International Airport in New York and there was an attempt by extremists to target fuel lines. In the year 2011, there was bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport and shootings of U.S. military personnel at Frankfurt International Airport (Brandt, 2011).
As a result of this, the U.S. government and many other countries have significantly increased aviation security measures to prevent future terrorist attacks. These measures include hardening the doors of cockpits, federalization of airport security, screening staff, and the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). There has been the use of federal air marshals (FAMs) and federal flight deck officers (FFDOs) aboard aircraft. Accomplishment of new detection tools and methods, such as advanced imaging technology (AIT) have been achieved. There is serious screening for cargo explosive trace detection (ETD), full body “pat downs,” and behavioral detection officers (BDOs). There is an enhanced scrutiny for visa applicants wanting to tour the United States and there is a watch list to screen for terrorists to prevent them from boarding flights or gaining employment (Brandt, 2011).
On 2 March 2011, a terrorist opened fire at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. A U.S. Air Force bus was targeted which was supposed to transport fifteen U.S. airmen to Ramstein Air Base. Two U.S. airmen were killed during the attack and others were wounded. German officials increased plainclothes security personnel at all Airports. This change can be considered appropriate for preventing such attacks in the future as airports have queues which terrorists can easily hide (Brandt, 2011).
Reference
Brandt, B. (2011). Terrorist threats to commercial aviation: a contemporary assessment. CTC SENTINEL, 4(11-12), 4-8.
