Risk-Based Security in Aviation
After the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers, the Transportation Security Administration assisted airports and airlines in evaluating risks and stepping up security measures. Providing risk-based-security lies between accurately identifying the risks and objectively...
2019 Brings Changes to the Notices to Airmen Publication
In an effort to modernize data and increase efficiency and safety, the Federal Aviation Administration has decided to streamline the Notices to Airmen Publication (NTAP) by eliminating the Part 1 section, which provides lists of flight data center notams. This change...
TSA Officers Face Assaults, Other Abuse
Transportation Security Administration officers are the security agency’s frontline employees. They staff airport security checkpoints, screen checked luggage to ensure it’s safe to load onto commercial airliners and perform a wide variety of other security functions. Given the nature of commercial air travel and security since 9/11, travelers sometimes become upset with them simply because they’re doing their jobs. Unfortunately, such anger can even spill over into assaults against TSA officers.
The Dangerous Effects of Lasers for Aircraft Pilots
Whether malicious or negligent, lasers pointing towards aircraft can have severe and often detrimental effects for aircraft pilots. When a laser is directed towards an airplane, it can cause a pilot to be disoriented and even temporarily blinded. As you can imagine,...
Easing Your International Travel Using the Global Entry Program
Anyone who’s ever traveled internationally and then returned to the United States no doubt has a story to tell when it comes to making their way through U.S. Customs stations. Stories abound of travelers held up in Customs, sometimes for hours, while clearing various issues related to their documents or background information. In some cases, they’re even refused entry altogether. Fortunately, there’s a way for travelers to ease their way through the Customs process, and it’s called “Global Entry.”
Insiders and Their Threat to Aviation Security
June 14, 1985: TWA Flight 847, a Boeing 727-200 that had begun its journey earlier in the morning in Cairo, Egypt, was hijacked after it left Athens, Greece. It was initially scheduled to fly to Rome, Italy and then Boston and, finally, San Diego in the United States, meaning most of its passengers were U.S. citizens. The hijacking resulted in the murder of a U.S. Navy diver, Robert Stethem, and dozens of other passengers were held hostage in Beirut over two weeks until their release by the hijackers.
Partial Government Shutdown Ended
U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday announced an end to the partial government shutdown that had seen TSA and other federal civil service employees not receive pay for the last 36 days. Ostensibly only good for the next 3 weeks – while the President and Congress negotiate to fund for construction of a southern border wall — the deal should see TSA and other Department of Homeland Security personnel, as well as FAA air traffic controllers, quickly paid all back pay owed them.
Make Getting Through TSA Security Easy on Yourself
Does anyone who flies in the U.S. look forward to going through a TSA security line? You could probably make good money in Vegas by putting all your chips on “No.” You can make the TSA security line experience easier on yourself, however, just by taking a few simple steps.
Tips and Tricks for a Stress-Free Travel Experience: TSA Pre✓ ®
Flying anywhere these days means going through some sort of government-mandated, overseen and/or operated security screening process. Anyone who’s flown on a commercial airliner in the United States since 2002 has had to pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the airport from which their flight originated, in fact. So where does that leave you, the weary traveler just trying to get through TSA security and onto your plane? Fortunately, there’s assistance. And it’s called “TSA Pre✓ ®.”
Shutdown’s Effect on TSA Personnel
Though the federal government has seen a partial shutdown for the last few weeks, employees of many of the nation’s federal security agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, have remained on the job and primarily working without pay. This includes the thousands of uniformed TSA officers staffing the security checkpoints at the nation’s 440 commercial airports.