Airport security
Artificial intelligence systems are also being used, for example for translation service on information stations around the airport and for reducing the time airplanes spend at the gate between flights (by monitoring and analyzing everything that happens after the aircraft lands).
These devices, which use Compton scattering, require that the passenger stand close to a flat panel and produce a high resolution image.
In the United States non-passengers were once allowed on the concourses to meet arriving friends or relatives at their gates, but this is now greatly restricted due to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The most common reasons that a non-passenger may obtain a gate pass is to assist children and the elderly as well as for attending business meetings that take place in the secure area of the airport.
In the United States, at least 24 hours notice is generally required for those planning to attend a business meeting inside the secure area of the airport.
Evidence implicated several Central Intelligence Agency-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles and members of the Venezuelan secret police DISIP, including Luis Posada Carriles.
[citation needed] The single deadliest airline catastrophe resulting from the failure of airport security to detect an onboard bomb was Air India Flight 182 in 1985, which killed 329 people.
Another onboard bomb that slipped through airport security was the one on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, which killed 270 people; 259 on the plane, and 11 residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.
Another notable failure was the 1994 bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434, which turned out to be a test run for a planned terrorist attack called Operation Bojinka.
The attacks left 20 people dead when gunmen threw grenades and opened fire on travelers at El Al airline ticket counters.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 members of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda took control of four airplanes on the east coast of the United States and deliberately crashed two into both World Trade Center towers in New York City and the third into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.
CATSA uses x-ray machines to verify the contents of all carry-ons as well as metal detectors, explosive trace detection (ETD) equipment and random physical searches of passengers at the pre-board screening points.
The airport unit has a criminal investigation, a canine and a TEPO (terrorist and bomb) squad, and a PTR (police, customs and border guard) intelligence component.
Since 1996 security check-points have transferred from the Police Nationale and Gendarmerie de l'Air to private companies hired by the airport authorities.
As a member of the European Economic Area, Iceland has adopted EC regulation No 300/2008 into national law and thus complies with EU standards on airport security for all international flights.
The exemption was granted by the EEA Joint Committee citing the geographical remoteness of the country as well as its low population density and small size of aircraft used in domestic operations.
Airports are generally defined by law as "vital installations", which give protection guards extra authority, like demanding identity documents and search people's belongings.
The UK trialed a controversial new method of screening passengers to further improve airport security using backscatter X-ray machines that provide a 360-degree view of a person, as well as "see" under clothes, right down to the skin and bones.
"[40] On December 27, 1985, terrorists simultaneously attacked El Al ticket counters at the Rome, Italy and Vienna, Austria airports using machine guns and hand grenades.
[41] The last successful airline-related terrorist attack was in 1986, when a security agent found a suitcase full of explosives during the initial screening process.
While no injuries were reported and the attacker was subdued by guards hidden among the passengers 15 minutes before the plane landed safely in Turkey, authorities did shut down Ben Gurion for some time after the attack to reassess the security situation and an investigation was opened to determine how the man, an Israeli Arab, managed to smuggle the knife past the airport security.
[47] Calling Ben Gurion "the world's safest airport," Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, has implemented the Israeli review in order to bring state-of-the-art technology and other tactical measures to help secure LAX, considered to be the state's primary terrorist target and singled out by the Al Qaeda network.
ASF safeguards the civil aviation industry against unlawful interference, adopting counter terrorism measures, preventing crime and maintaining law and order within the limits of airports in Pakistan.
Passengers are advised to check in liquids, gels and aerosols above 100 ml, failing which they will be confiscated by airport security and have to post it back to oneself.
[50] Later in 1970, sky marshall staffing was increased, and some passengers fitting a behavioral profile were screened for weapons (including with handheld metal detectors).
[50] On November 10, 1972, a trio of hijackers threatened to fly Southern Airways Flight 49 into a nuclear reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
As a direct response to this incident,[51] the Federal Aviation Administration required all airlines to begin screening passengers and their carry-on baggage by January 5, 1973.
[57] From 13 August 2006, airline passengers in the United States could take up to 3.4 US fl oz (101 ml) of non-prescription medicine, glucose gel for diabetics, solid lipstick, and baby food aboard flights.
To alleviate this, airports created Premium lines for passengers traveling in First or Business Class, or those who were elite members of a particular airline's Frequent Flyer program.
[59][60][61] In 2023 US DHS Science and Technology Directorate's screening-at-speed program announced that is transforming the current single line screening process into a self-screening flow similar to self-checkout at a US grocery store.
