Airport Safety -Vs- Vulnerability Assessment

B747 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Tarmac
Image courtesy of
Janice King ramp picture archives

By: Janice King 

The Purpose of this article is
 

    To share information on commercial aviation safety concerns and how SMS implementation works. Security violation with the what if's whenever this security breaches take place and the consequences that oftentimes ended up being as fatal as the 2017 active shooter incident at Ft. Lauderdale airport in Florida. In this article the reader can find helpful information regarding airport security, security vulnerabilities, and signs of possible security breaches, as well as contingency plan ideas, and much more.

 

Why do safety breaches still happen at airports? Complacency in the day to day basis at the workplace among airport and airline workers, in addition to the time of the year/air traffic (e.g.Holidays, Summer traveling, etc) suspicious activities can seem to be overlooked consequently allowing adversaries to exploit any possible vulnerabilities. 

Scan this image to watch
video of the 2017 active shooter fatality at
Ft, Lauderdale, FL Airport 

    While local, and national agencies have implemented mitigation guidelines to promote safety in commercial aviation along with vulnerability assessment can be added to the SMS implementation strategy. Train and encourage airport staff members and airline employees to "identify the 8 signs of terrorism" (Transportation Security Administration, TSA Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Operators and Users July, 2017). Simulation drills to identify suspicious surveillance, or someone impersonating an airline pilot wearing a false airport badge freely walking inside the tarmac is another tool in this security breach prevention strategy. While it is a good thing to learn from past incident mistakes it is imperative to periodically assess any possible vulnerabilities in the present security system. 

References

Brian Ross January 8, 2017 ABC News, "Airports Boost Security After Fort Lauderdale Shooting"
              https://abcnews.go.com/US/airports-boost-security-fort-lauderdale-shooting/story?   id=44636427

Video source: Brian Ross for ABC News YouTube Channel (January 8, 2017)  https://youtu.be/78PiE4vmeJ8?feature=shared

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Operators and Users, July 2017;                 

              Pages 9 - 10 Section 5. Gathering Intelligence 5.1 Identifying the threat 5.2 Eight Signs of Terrorism.
              https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/2017_ga_security_guidelines.pdf