Daesh credits unchecked
Caterer's soda for downing plane
I HAVE BEEN WRITING - and been ignored - since September 12, 2001 that it is easy to get weapons and bombs on board commercial aircraft.
An article I wrote was "vetted" by the then security chief for a no-longer existing airline who contended that what I wrote was ludicrous.
Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) validated my contention when it brought down an Airbus A321 with 224 people on board, telling "the world" that it brought the plane down with a soda can bomb.
If true, someone needs to ask two very simple questions: Who put the bomb in with other soda cans? and Who put the soda can bomb on board the Metrojet?
The best, most convenient answer to both questions is A caterer employee.
That's not an absolute, of course, but the probability is great that a caterer employee played a role in getting the bomb on board.
Airport security generally focuses on passengers and their luggage - both stored in the hold and carry on. Despite this emphasis on passengers,
- a bomb-in-a-radio is blamed for Pan Am 103
a shoe bomb (that failed)
an underwear bomb (that failed)
Airport security - with the exception of Israel and Israeli carriers - generally ignores
- Flight crews
Caterers
Cleaning crews
Maintenance crews
Refueling crews
Next time you are in any airport, watch as flight crews skip the scans and continue undelayed to their aircraft; look out the windows while waiting to board to see who has access to your plane and, more importantly, who is watching the people who have access to the aircraft.,
The problem is not the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), staffed primarily by people off the street with no security background and minimal training - they do the best they can.
The problem may not even be airport security.
None of the Israeli airlines depends solely on airport security. Cleaning crews and caterers are greeted by Israeli security agents when they board an Israeli flag carrier. Israeli personnel are on the ground near the aircraft as until the plane moves away from the jetway/gate/boarding area.
- I watched from my window seat as armed security surrounded my El Al plane at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and I was lectured by an on-board security person for leaving an expensive camera on board during a brief stop at New York's JFK. I know Israeli security first hand. I never have seen anything similar with the many other airlines on which I have flown.
Catering companies are vetted by the Israeli airlines.
It's not perfect, but it's better security than any other country's airlines offer. Compare El Al's record with any other airline.
How do other airlines compare? What's the difference? The answer to the second question is easy: Israeli airlines are security conscious and understand that passengers are not the only threat to an aircraft.
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