Airliners’ Vulnerability the Subject of Task Force
By Sylvia Adcock, New York Newsday
Increasing concern over the possibility that terrorists might try to bring down a commercial airliner with a shoulder-fired missile has sparked the creation of a multi-agency task force developing plans to thwart such a disaster.
Steps have already been taken, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday, adding that the plans must remain confidential.
The National Security Council, the White House Office of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation are represented on the task force, which is meeting to assess the threat and come up with solutions. The solutions under consideration range from technological ones such as military-style anti-missile defense systems to a ramped-up neighborhood watch program near the nation’s airports.
“This is not a new issue,” said Chet Lunner, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation. The scenario was thrust into the public eye on Nov. 28, when terrorists fired two SA-7 missiles at an Israeli passenger jet, just missing it as it took from from Mombasa, Kenya. But the nation’s major airlines had met weeks earlier to discuss the threat of such missiles, Lunner said.
“Specific countermeasures I can’t talk about,” Lunner said. But he said that making the public more aware of what to look for would be a benefit. “Everybody should be generally more aware of things,” he said.
Patrolling areas from which such a weapon could be fired would be difficult, if not impossible. The missiles can reach an aircraft flying at above 9,000 feet, so just adding extra police to the perimeter of an airport, where planes are flying low, wouldn’t do the trick. And potential launch sites could vary depending on an aircraft’s arrival or departure route. Some arrivals to Kennedy Airport, for instance, are at 11,000 feet over Connecticut. On another route to Kennedy, some aircraft descend below 10,000 feet as far as 45 miles from the airport.
FBI spokesman John Ianarelli said the focus has been on identifying vulnerable areas at the nation’s airports and ensuring greater vigilance among local police and airport officials. One approach would be what Lunner called “domain awareness” -- educating local police and residents near airports to identify missile parts and be on the lookout for suspicious activity.
On Monday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) will introduce legislation in the House that would require airlines to install missile defense systems on commercial jets. Such a system could cost more than $1 million per aircraft. “We have the technology to protect civilian planes from attack and we should use it,” Israel said.
Jalal Haidar, a consultant who serves on the security council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, said none of the measures may be necessary. He believes the missile threat is much greater overseas than on U.S. soil.