Security Roundup

Date Incident 12 Jan In a sign of things to come, Liverpool's John Lennon Airport recently introduced a £2 security charge on departing passengers. Airport owner Peel Holdings says that the charge is required to help defray the costs of increased security. EasyJet says that its contract with the...

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Date	Incident
12 Jan	In a sign of things to come, Liverpool's John Lennon Airport recently introduced a £2 security charge on departing passengers. Airport owner Peel Holdings says that the charge is required to help defray the costs of increased security. EasyJet says that its contract with the airport explicitly covers security costs, and is calling on passengers to boycott the airport. EasyJet claims the charge effectively doubles what airlines pay for security, while the airport counters that the charge will help them keep queues to a minimum. Airlines using the airport are obliged by contract to turn aircraft around in 25 minutes; officials say the security charge will enable most passengers to be processed by security in about five minutes.
12 Jan	A stowaway was found dead in the wheel well of Delta Air Lines flight 535, a 767-332ER from Africa, when the plane landed about 8:45 Friday morning at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a 9hr flight from Dakar, Senegal.
14 Jan	Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says Ohio aircraft owners have been singled out by the state to sign a declaration with their annual aircraft registration renewal, stating they are not involved in terrorist activity. AOPA says pilots are the only license holders the Ohio Department of Transportation requires to sign its new Declaration Regarding Material Assistance/Non Assistance to a Terrorist Organization, or DMA. Needless to say, the group is extremely unhappy with what it says is a form of discrimination. In a letter to the state's department of public safety, Greg Pecoraro, AOPA vice president of regional affairs, said: "Frankly, it is offensive to Ohio's pilot population to suggest that they are more suspect than people who own boats, trucks, or automobiles."
16 Jan	An MD-10 cargo jet equipped with Northrop Grumman's Guardian anti-missile system took off from Los Angeles International Airport on a commercial flight Tuesday, the company said. The FedEx flight marked the start of operational testing and evaluation of the laser system designed to defend against shoulder-fired anti- aircraft missiles during takeoffs and landings. Guardian is designed to detect a missile launch and then direct a laser to the seeker system on the head of the missile and disrupt its guidance signals. The laser is not visible and is eye-safe. In the test phase to March 2008, nine Guardian equipped MD-10 freighters will check the impact upon a commercial service. The Guardian system appears as a pod with eye-like features attached to the aircraft belly. DHS gave Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems $45 million each in 2004 to adapt military defense systems to civilian airliners
16 Jan	A jury in Massachusetts ruled on Friday that American Airlines should pay a South Florida man $400,000 in a discrimination case. John Cerqueira and his attorneys accused American Airlines of racial profiling after he was removed from a plane in Boston in December 2003. Cerqueira said he had visited family in the Boston area and was trying to fly back to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when American Airlines officials ordered him and two other men off the plane. Cerqueira said three Massachusetts state police officers escorted him and two Israeli men off of the plane. They were all questioned and later released.
16 Jan	A Cyprus Airways flight to Greece made an unscheduled landing 16 Jan following a bomb threat. Flight CY336, carrying 95 passengers and seven crew, landed in Paphos on the island's west coast shortly after taking off from Larnaca airport. Cyprus Airways director Christos Kyriakides said authorities at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos airport received a phone call shortly after 4 p.m. claiming there was a bomb on board. The passengers disembarked and police searched the plane.
Sep 06	Prince Carl-Philip of Sweden (2nd in line to the throne) had to spend one night locked up by US Immigration at Miami. Event took place in September 2006 when the Prince traveled alone from Caracas to Dulles via Miami. Carl-Philip was doing a documentary together with two photographers and was about to board a flight when the Prince realized that he'd left his passport back at the hotel. Due to this he missed his flight and was rebooked to another. On arrival, minus a work visa but with his diplomatic passport, security didn't believe that he was the Prince of Sweden and he was incarcerated.