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Terrorists could bring down US jets with hidden bombs
Suicide attackers armed with hidden explosives that can weigh as little as a cell phone pose a serious threat to the nation's aviation system despite billions being spent on new efforts to tighten security, according to more than a dozen members of Congress and security consultants. The nearly simultaneous bombings of two Russian airliners in midair on Aug. 24 prompted the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to unveil new security equipment and to order more aggressive searches of passengers. But alarming vulnerabilities remain: There's no reliable way to detect bombs under people's clothing, and the vast majority of carry-on bags are not checked for explosives. "We have very low protection against a suicide bomber strapped with explosives," says Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Aviation subcommittee. "It ushers in a whole new era of danger for the aviation industry."Security officials have struggled for years to defend against plane bombings. Blowing up jets is a high-priority goal for terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, which has tried to bring down planes with nitroglycerin poured into a bottle of contact lens solution and plastic explosives molded into a shoe. But the Russian bombings, likely carried out by Chechen female suicide operatives, have renewed fears that a determined terrorist could slip past U.S. security measures. Many of today's modern explosives — and even some older varieties — would be nearly impossible to detect as long as the passenger carrying them was not flagged for additional airport security checks. "It's a matter of time before what happened in Russia happens in Australia, the UK or the United States," says Chris Yates, aviation security editor for Jane's Transport magazine. A key distinction between explosives and weapons such as guns or knives is detectability. Airport X-ray machines and metal detectors are designed to find metal and weapons, not explosives. Plastique, TNT, nitroglycerin and other common ingredients in bombs can be detected with machines that test for trace amounts of explosives. But security officials typically only do the test after a traveler arouses suspicion, such as by purchasing a ticket at the last minute. In the "trace" detection test, security workers swab a suitcase, purse or laptop. The swab is fed into a device the size of a computer, which can reliably spot extremely small amounts of explosives. However, the test is mainly used on bags, not people. And since the vast majority of bags are not tested, it is not a reliable way to prevent explosives from getting on board flights. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-09-29 |
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