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Monday, November 12, 2007

Security Roundup

Date Incident
06 Nov The European Union's top justice official proposed tougher anti-terror measures Tuesday, from criminalizing recruitment of people for attacks to collecting data from airline passengers flying into the 27-nation bloc. The most controversial of his plans calls for member nations to adopt EU-wide airline security measures similar to those used by the United States, storing extensive data on passengers that will be retained for 13 years. Data privacy advocates said the measures go too far. The EU plan is to log 19 pieces of passenger data such as e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and ticket payment details. The data passenger profile would be retained for five years, then lie in a ''dormant'' database a further eight years before deletion. Under an agreement signed earlier this year, the number of pieces of information transferred to U.S. authorities reduces from 34 to 19 and the data can be kept for up to 15 years.
06 Nov What's the ultimate fate of the items abandoned/confiscated by security as being not approved for air travel? Last year, security workers at Bradley International Airport's security checkpoints collected about 1.5 tons - roughly the weight of a car. Alcohol, liquid and chemical items prohibited by security are disposed of separately through a hazardous materials company. However the sports memorabilia, knives, souvenirs and small tools sell like hot-cakes at the State Surplus store auctions, with the money going into the coffers of the State of New Hampshire. The volume of items collected at Bradley's security checkpoints has decreased from 5.29 tons in 2003 to 1.5 tons last year. It all used to be melted down, but now they're recycled (with some doubtless condemned to end up in the hands of the TSA yet again - in an endless loop).
06 Nov An investigation by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has found that terrorists and insurgents continue to acquire and use shoulder- fired, surface-to-air missiles despite international efforts to contain their proliferation. Published in Jane's Intelligence Review, November Edition, the study found credible reports of possession or use of surface-to-air missiles by terrorists, criminals and insurgents in at least 17 countries since 2002. Besides Iraq and Afghanistan, other MANPADS hotspots include Chechnya and Somalia. The FAS says: "Nearly a million missiles have been produced by over 20 countries. Thousands of those missiles are now outside of government control."
05 Nov While on routine aerial police patrol over Aurora, Ontario, Canada, the crew of a EC120B Eurocopter was flashed by a type 111B laser at 2330Z (day- time). Courtesy of GPS and video, the person was promptly identified and apprehended by York Regional Police. No injuries were apparent to either crew member.
05 Nov A recently-retired airline pilot told a Colorado television station that, while he has all the clearances he needs to fly an airliner, his appearance on the TSA's "no-fly" list makes being a passenger a major ordeal for him. Robert Campbell says that even though the Transportation Security Administration reassured him in 2006 that he was no longer on the list, he still gets security razzed when he checks in for a flight as a passenger. "The fact is, I'm authorized by the TSA to fly the airplane and ride the jump seat on air carriers," he said. "But if I want to ride down back, I'm persona non grata on the no-fly list." Campbell has been trying to get off the list since early 2005, but so far and very frustratingly, without success.
04 Nov The penalty for not carrying a sky marshal? Latcharter Flight 6Y322 was returning holidaymakers from Hurghada Egypt when a drunken passenger became belligerent during a 2 hour delayed hold prior to takeoff. The crew, not wanting to lose their takeoff slot by returning to the ramp, decided to keep him on board, thinking that he would eventually subside into a stupor. However the exact opposite happened and he terrorized and intimidated all on board the chartered A320 almost all the way to Riga International Airport. He roamed the isles threatening to hit passengers with the bottle or his fist. The flight was made up mostly of family vacationers and nobody was physically equipped to take him on, being afraid he would hurt their wives or children. Eventually, the crew vacated people in the area around him. Then he puked all over himself, the floor and the isle beside him. After that he passed out for a period. However an hour before landing he woke up and, now with an empty bottle, restarted his reign of terror by pushing and shoving passengers and threatening them with the bottle. He was arrested upon arrival.
04 Nov Six men were arrested after a disturbance on a flight into Aberdeen UK. The plane was a Boeing 737 chartered from the company Astraeus. Crew members were understood to have raised the alarm before the plane landed, amid concerns about the behavior of a group of passengers. The men were on a private chartered flight from Las Palmas, which arrived at Dyce on Sunday evening. Grampian Police said the men were arrested just after 1900 GMT following their arrival. They will appear in Aberdeen Sheriffs Court on Monday.
31 Oct A Virgin Blue flight was forced to make an early morning unscheduled landing in Adelaide, South Australia after a woman caused a major disruption on board. The Brisbane-bound flight from Perth landed at Adelaide Airport about 4.20am (CDT) when Australian Federal Police were summoned after the woman created a threatening situation enroute.
31 Oct A witness who videotaped the death of a Polish man at Vancouver International Airport is suing the RCMP for the return of the footage. Paul Pritchard filmed Robert Dziekanski's actions "in the minutes before police arrived, the use of the Taser by police, and the 'incredibly shocking' moment the witnesses realized they had just seen a man die," says a statement by his lawyer. Pritchard agreed to lend the RCMP his camera and the high-quality footage. But now they won't return his property because they say the video may taint witness accounts in their investigation. Pritchard claims the RCMP promised they would make a copy of the tape before giving everything back to him within 48 hours. Instead, he received a call stating that the footage would not be returned. Police have not yet ruled out a criminal investigation into the case.
30 Oct Federal authorities have announced that a San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico man was arrested Tuesday in Albany NY and charged with carrying a concealed weapon on an aircraft in violation of federal law. According to the federal complaint filed against him, William Contreras Ramos, 20, boarded Delta flight 932 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and landed around 1:30 p.m. at JFK Airport. He was also a ticketed passenger on Delta flight 6044 from JFK Airport to Albany International Airport, scheduled to depart at approximately 6:45 p.m. A search of the defendant's bag, which he carried on the plane and was therefore accessible to him during the flight, revealed a folded straight razor with a blade of approximately four-and-one-half inches wrapped in a shirt. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
26 Oct "Jet forced to land by a runaway laptop" is a headline in the 26 Oct 2007 Jewish Chronicle ( http://www.thejc.com). In summary, a London-Tel Aviv flight made an unscheduled stop at Athens. A laptop had been found on-board which no one nearby claimed. Per security procedures, the plane made an impromptu unscheduled landing....at which juncture the computer's owner, having woken up, asked if anyone had seen his missing laptop.
25 Oct Chhaganbhai Patel, 60, made it through security and Shakarabhai Patel, 64 actually onto a Delta Air Lines jet, which was bound for New York and then to India, both carrying weapons including martial arts knives and undetected boxcutters. Security also found 20 small knives wrapped in tin foil and razor blades hidden in the battery compartment of a toy car. The plane was brought back to the gate at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and both men were charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons. Nevertheless, the FBI maintains that the incident was not terror-related.

 

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