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in 2015 a bombshell report came out
detailing how the TSA the agency
responsible for airport security in the
u.s. missed 95% of drugs explosives
weapons and other prohibited items sent
through their scanners in a test in 2016
the same test was repeated with the same
result
the following year 2017 the test was
repeated again with an improved success
rate but still it lets 70% of prohibited
items through in fact within the US
there's no evidence that the TSA has
ever prevented a terrorist attack and
outside the u.s. there are very few
examples of physical airport security
thwarting an attack airport security
slows people down increases cost and yet
does little to actually improve safety
so it's safe to say that airport
security is broken but why since the
purpose of aviation is to get from one
place to another it's tougher a single
country to regulate the industry instead
the International Civil Aviation
Organization a United Nations agency
does all but two UN member countries
Lichtenstein and Dominica are part of
the ICAO
so it's regulations are more or less
universal they're the ones responsible
for making sure that air transport works
the same way all around the world but
what they require for airport security
is rather in concrete they simply say
measures need to be established to
prevent weapons explosives and any other
dangerous devices articles or substances
which may be used to commit an act of
unlawful interference the carriage and
bearing of which is not authorized from
being introduced by any means whatsoever
on board an aircraft engaged in civil
aviation essentially all they require is
that before a passenger gets on board a
plane the airport assures they don't
have weapons while the ICAO does
determine whether this requirement has
been fulfilled it's up to each country
to decide how they achieve that in the
u.s. airport security works like this
after check-in a passenger goes to have
their documents checked puts their backs
through an x-ray scanner and walks
through either a metal detector or
millimeter-wave scanner there are
potentially additional steps such as a
pat-down or explosives residue tests for
some but these three steps are how the
process works for most it is though
important to note that if you so choose
you can skip the metal detector or
millimeter wave scanner step of the
process and receive a pat-down instead
this is fully compliant with ICAO
regulations since it does effectively
screen an individual for weapons in fact
an airport could hypothetically be
compliant with ICAO regulations only by
conducting physical bag searches and
pat-down since this does screen for
weapons even if this would be slow
invasive and unpopular some small
airports actually do this for backs they
physically search them instead of
passing them through an x-ray the words
security theater are thrown around a lot
in regards to us airport security this
term is used pejoratively it means that
the TSA function is to make airports
look secure but here's the thing on
paper the TSA has done its job there has
not been a single death on a flight
leaving from a u.s. airport since 9/11
as a result of terrorism in fact in the
same time period there has not even been
a single attempted terrorist attack on a
flight leaving from a u.s. airport all
have been on flights originating from
abroad so maybe the TSA is doing its
function maybe the mere threat of being
caught has been enough to thwart
terrorists or maybe terrorists have
moved on from attacking airplanes the
u.s. is certainly a prime target for
terrorism but there are more
controversial nations Israeli airport
security is considered to be the best in
the world
despite being situated in one of the
most politically contentious countries
in the world
no airplane leaving from Tel Aviv's
ben-gurion airport has ever been
hijacked or bombed it's been attempted
but this airport security is simply
nearly impenetrable what's most
fascinating is that this airport is
hardly using any super advanced
technology they use
exact same metal detectors as the US and
Europe but they focused on the human
factor Israel has come to realize but
it's unfortunately easy to get weapons
through airport security plastic
explosives nonmetallic knives and blunt
weapons are just tough to detect so
rather than focusing on the weapons that
could be used for an attack they focus
on the people who could use them at
ben-gurion airport security starts
before passengers even get to the
airport
cars passed through a security
checkpoint a mile away from the airport
entrance where guards inspect cars and
look for any suspicious-looking
individuals the minute passengers arrive
at the airport they're being watched
already highly trained plainclothes
officers roam around in the check-in
area again searching for individuals
acting abnormally or nervous then before
passengers are even allowed to check-in
there's the interview anyone who's
passed through Ben Gurion Airport knows
how intense this interview is but it's
likely the single greatest factor
leading to the safety of Israeli
airports passengers are first asked
standard questions like what their jobs
are why they came to Israel how long
they stayed for and if they pack their
own bags and all the while the security
agent watches the passengers face for
reactions
they'll also probe deeper asking why the
passenger has been to various countries
stamped in their passport they'll then
ask oddly specific questions which
school they went to when they last moved
what kind of car they have these are all
to see if the passenger is being honest
about who they are if a security officer
senses hesitation or finds a hole in
their story they could deem the
passenger a higher risk when passengers
have completed their interview a barcode
is placed on the back of their passport
that starts with a number from 1 to 6 if
it starts with 1 the passenger is deemed
a very low risk this is almost only
given to Israeli citizens while if it
starts with 6 the passenger is deemed a
very high risk and will be subjected to
extremely thorough screening while a lot
of the risk determination has to do with
the interview profiling also plays into
it according to the Israeli security
system passengers are deemed higher risk
if they are male if they are traveling
alone if they are young and most of all
if there are Arab Israel
unapologetically uses racial profile
in their risk assessment which has led
to international condemnation Israel
meanwhile argues that this technique is
effective after all the country has
recently been at war with many of its
Arabian neighbors at the same time
though it's almost impossible for an
Arab traveler to pass through ben-gurion
airports without getting deemed a number
six security risk
Western non-israeli individuals are also
generally considered to be a higher
security risk
typically receiving a four or five after
the interview passengers are finally
allowed to check in their check bags are
put through a standard x-ray and then
are placed in a pressure chamber the
Chamber's pressure is lowered to the
level of pressurised aircraft about the
equivalent of six to eight thousand feet
of altitude to set off any explosives
designed to trigger when a plane's cabin
pressure is lower at cruising altitude
meanwhile the passenger passes through a
standard x-ray or body scanner this
physical screening process is exactly
the same as it would be in North America
Europe or Asia they just walk through
the scanners and grab their bags those
deemed a higher security risk above
three or four likely would have their
bags manually searched and then the
highest risk individuals five or six s
are often taken aside for another round
of questioning and a pat-down
the security doesn't even stop when
passengers board the plane like the u.s.
Israel has a system of air marshals
armed security guards on planes but
unlike the u.s. at least in the case of
al al Israel's national airline there
are air marshals on every single flight
they said among the passengers often
near any that were identified at the
airport as high-risk and they have alert
buttons that communicate with the pilots
in case of an attempted hijacking
if the marshals press this button an
alarm will go off in the cockpit and the
pilots will often send the plane into a
dive to knock the hijacker off their
feet this technique has successfully
prevented terror attacks in the past
these air marshals secure the plane from
the inside but in another system
protects the outside allows planes are
installed with thermal flares that
deploy when a radar detects an incoming
missile Thermal guided missiles will
then target the flares instead of the
plane ll and the other Israeli Airlines
also stay secure by having security
officers at their destination airports
for departing passengers to Israel they
repeat much of the same security process
as at ben-gurion airport conducting
interviews profiling and assessing the
risk of each passenger at many foreign
airports these agents also physically
screen luggage before handing it off to
regular airport security ll despite
being the flag carrier of one of the
most controversial nations in the world
at its last and only hijacking in 1968
and even this incident resulted in zero
deaths it and ben-gurion airport are
Testaments to the fact that truly secure
security is theoretically possible but
is it possible worldwide here's the
thing about Tel Aviv's Airport it's not
that big twenty million passengers pass
through it each year making it only as
busy as San Diego or Berlin Airport
these are not small airports but they're
not on the same scale as the world's
largest like JFK Heathrow or Dubai it's
tough to determine if a system like what
Israel has implemented could scale up to
be used universally what sure is that
certain elements of the Israeli system
would not work most countries could not
justify a system that relies so heavily
on racial profiling in many countries
and US states practices such as this are
simply illegal but still airports and
countries around the world are watching
Israeli security methods closely the US
has already implemented a system of
security interviews for many
international flights to the US however
these are generally conducted by less
trained contract workers Brussels
Airport after its terrorist bombing in
2016
now positions officers trained in
behavioural detection at its entrances
plenty of other airports have sent
delegates to ben-gurion airport to
evaluate their security techniques as
well and have quietly made changes to
closer emulate Israel but few ever
stopped a question if we even want an
increase in airport security if it comes
at the expense of time maybe we don't as
mentioned the US has not had a
successful terror attack on an airplane
since 9/11 worldwide airplane hijackings
are now almost non-existent but security
has a consequence in the most direct way
tickets for every single flight leaving
from a u.s.
Airport include a $5 and 60 cent fee
that goes towards paying for security
this may not be much in the scope of a
multi-hundred dollar flight to Europe or
Asia but if the u.s. ever wants to get
to the point where Europe is of having
10 or 20 dollar budget airline tickets
between domestic destinations this fee
has to go a study found that the TSA s
average cost per life saved how much
money is spent to stop one human death
is 667 million dollars you can certainly
say that you can't put a price on a
human life but the security that saves
these lives costs lives the plane is
empirically the safest way to travel
it's hundreds or thousands of times
safer than driving so stopping people
from flying is in and of itself deadly
economists found that the increase in
airport security in the u.s. post 9/11
can account for six percent of the
decline in air travel given that in 2002
more than 500 people died because as a
result of longer security times and more
extensive searches they chose to drive
over fly and were involved in a fatal
accident
flying being easy helps everyone it lets
people travel faster and it helps
Airlines as businesses just as long as
it doesn't result in a decrease in
safety in Israel passengers arrive three
hours before their flights just to clear
security which means plane travel is
inefficient well in some places in
Europe airports encourage travelers to
arrive a mere hour before their flight
the goal is to keep security fast
efficient but also secure no country or
airport has the perfect system but to
achieve this one likely needs to combine
elements of the strictest security
systems with those of the fastest Israel
can get away with invasive unethical yet
effective security measures because they
need to they are a country seemingly
constantly at war
many other areas of the world just
aren't big targets for terrorists it's
hard to know whether or not security
measures are effective there's no
control group of developed countries
that don't have airport security to
compare to the most effective security
systems stop attacks by the mere threat
of
consequences rather than through
physical screening so maybe airport
security works in the US and Europe and
Asia and all the other developed safe
areas of the world one must therefore
ask whether airport security is actually
saving lives or ending them if you've
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