DHS Beefs Up Private Plane Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will impose new aviation security measures aimed at preventing terrorists from using general aviation aircraft to sneak into the United States. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Advanced Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the United States, released on Sept. 11, will require more detailed information about arriving and departing private aircraft and persons onboard. The NPRM will require pilots of private aircraft to provide to the U.S. Government complete passenger and crew manifest data and aircraft information to foster aircraft identification, tracking and communication, one hour prior to departure to and from the United States, giving Customs agents time to check names against terrorist watch lists. The proposed rule is similar to one recently announced to cover commercial flights. “This rule is designed to further protect the nation by improving our ability to identify threats on flights to and from the United States,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We have a similar rule in place that allows us to assess the risk of commercial aircraft passengers on these flights and we are now taking steps to expand that capability to include passengers on international flights by private aircraft.” DHS is considering a phased approach to implement the proposed security measures.  Under Phase I, DHS will publish the NPRM to elicit public comments prior to issuance of a final rule and implementation of the new requirements. Under Phase II, DHS will develop methods and processes to address “additional security vulnerabilities” for international private aircraft operations at their last point of departure prior to entering U.S. airspace.