28
GA
/ Vol. 5 / No.9 / SEPTEMBER 2013
by Dave Hook, CFII, ATP
Security Matters
In April of this year John
Pistole, Administrator for the
U.S. Transportation Security
Administration, spoke about
aviation security in Africa. He
used phrases like "risk-based,
intelligence-driven operations"
and "reducing the vulnerability
of the nation's transportation
system to terrorism." Those are
favorite mantras used by the
transportation security industry
in America. But having lived and
worked in Africa for a time, I
think there are far better phrases
that convey a deeper wisdom in
the pursuit of aviation security.
"Half-truth is more
frightening than falsehood."1
This is a profound
statement when applied to
threat intelligence. Aviation
security can become expensive
quickly. Overestimating a threat
results in excessive spending on
security equipment, personnel,
and procedural wastes of time. On
the other hand, underestimating
a threat may provide the
opportunity--perhaps only a
momentary vulnerability--that
the threat will exploit. Millennia
before there was a United States
and a TSA, the Chinese general
and military philosopher Sun Tzu
chided his followers to "See the
battlefield and know the enemy...."
When it comes to sizing up an
adversary properly, that phrase is
little different than understanding
the differences between truth,
half-truth, and falsehood.
A misused word or phrase
can also contribute to frightening
half-truths. In aviation security the
weapon used to conduct an attack
is not a threat. Weapons are tools.
How those weapons are applied
are tactics. But the weapons
themselves are not threats. Bombs
stored on a shelf, ammunition
properly kept in a locker, and
knives in their sheaths are not
threats. The people who use them,
or threaten to use them, are threats.
"Do not look where you
fell, but where you slipped."
Security in a practical sense
is imperfect. If security were
perfect, you would likely lose
the very value of the thing (an
airplane), person (the passengers
and crew), or intangible (an
airport's reputation) that you are
trying to protect. You could keep
terrorists from reaching an airplane
by keeping everyone out of the
craft. But with no one aboard,
what good is the plane? My point
here is that for transportation
to be useful, people must be
allowed to board and baggage and
cargo allowed to be loaded. This
compromise means that security is
not perfect. There will be mistakes.
Consider for a moment all of
the aviation security required by
the international aviation system.
On Christmas Day in 2009 Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab, more
commonly referred to as the
Underwear Bomber, made it past
the security equipment, people,
and procedures arrayed against
him and managed to ignite an
improvised explosive device
while the aircraft was preparing to
land in the U.S. Fortunately, the
hastily mixed plastic explosive
compound did not explode as
planned, but merely caught fire,
incinerating Abdulmutallab's
trousers and burning his legs.
There appears to have been
many mistakes in both intelligence
and security with this Christmas
Day bombing attempt. In fact,
there were so many mistakes
that these particular security and
intelligence failures were likened
to links in a chain, similar to the
safety chain used to describe
how aircraft accidents take place.
Therefore, in creating security
for aviation one must expect
that the adversary will adapt and
overcome our security and get
the better of us to some extent.
Security cannot become
stagnant and expected to remain
effective. But people become
complacent; procedures and
equipment, outdated or irrelevant.
So when failure happens, do
you ponder the trail of smoke
to the crash site or immediately
search for the exploited holes in
security and close them down?
"The path is made by walking."
Security is protection by
doing. Discussing security is good.
A coordinated, cost-effective,
well-planned approach is good.
But there comes the time when
there's been enough talking and
it's time for action. Security is a
path made by walking, by doing.
But the path of security is not the
same for all types of civil aviation.
I have noted in some countries
during my travels around the world
that civil aviation is a term that
is draped on anything that flies,
with the exception of military
aviation. But in considering what
paths to security the different
kinds of civil aviation should walk,
I think there should be a clear
demarcation between the aviation
involving large aircraft filled with
paying passengers and cargo flying
between regions and countries
and the aviation performing local
flying training, medical rescue,
recreational sorties, and the like.
Aviation security is ultimately
about protecting the machines
that fly and the people who fly
in them. The larger aircraft with
more people and cargo have
a greater need for the security
equipment, personnel, and
procedures to keep them safe
and secure. The governance for
protecting international flights
should seek an acceptable common
denominator as they do currently.
For the airlines and air freight
companies, theirs is a different
path for security than for the flight
instructor and student walking the
ramp towards their waiting Cessna.
If you noticed the captain of an
airliner taking their high-powered
rifle onto the flight deck, you
might wonder what in the world
was going on. However, if a friend
were loading their Sling or Gipps
for a flight into the bush, you'd
probably find it just as strange if
they didn't pack a rifle. So it is
important that aviators be given
sufficient latitude to exercise the
judgment necessary to protect
their aircraft, their passengers, and
themselves. But all aviators will
not walk the same path to do this.
While "risk-based,
intelligence-driven operations"
may be the aviation security motto
of the day, there will come a time
when it is replaced by a new
security slogan. However, simple
truths are timeless and, perhaps,
even more effective at reminding
us of the practical means to
make and keep aviation secure.
"Half-truth is more
frightening than falsehood."
"Do not look where you fell,
but where you slipped."
"The path is made by walking."
Dave Hook and his company Planehook
Aviation Services, LLC publish
General Aviation Security, a quarterly
digest that focuses on the security
and safety of general aviation.
1 Essabra-Mensah, Ekow, "Africa must
increase aviation security John Pistole."
Business and Financial Times, Spy
Ghana, 17 April 2013, 22 July 2013
Aviation
Security
and simple
wisdom
David C. Hook is President of Planehook Aviation Services, LLC and
Publisher of General Aviation Security Magazine. He is a licensed
aviation security consultant in the State of Texas. He has over 4,000
flying hours in aircraft ranging from the Schweitzer SGS 2-33 glider
to the Lockheed C-130 Hercules as well as the Russian-built AN-2
"Colt" biplane and a highly modified Basler C-47T Turbo Dakota.
He is a licensed Airline Transport Pilot, Instrument and Multi-Engine
Flight Instructor, and Advanced Ground Instructor. He specializes
in risk assessments and low-cost security program development for
general aviation airports and flying operations.
David grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington and began
learning to fly at age 15. He is a 1984 graduate of the U.S. Air Force
Academy with an undergraduate degree in astronautical engineering.
David also holds a Master of Arts Degree (with honors) in acquisi-
tion and procurement management from Webster University. During
his 20+ years in the Air Force he served as U.S. Air Attaché in West
Africa and as an air commando A-team leader and chief pilot in U.S.
Air Force Special Operations Command. Shortly after complet-
ing his military service David opened Planehook Aviation Services,
now in its 9th year.
Abbreviated Biography - David C. Hook
Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate is very proud to announce that we will be
holding our very first Airshow in Hoedspruit on Zandspruit Estate itself on the
7th September 2013.
We have a very exciting line up of more than 30 aircraft displaying
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· Flying Lions Harvards · Goodyear Pitts · Gabriel Pitts · Hunter ·
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Gate fees: R60 per adult and R20 per child under 12
For more information please
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or call : 015 793 1192
Zandspruit Airshow
7 September 2013
HOEDSPRUIT · LIMPOPO