Fast Draw
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עברית (Hebrew)
It’s still a mystery. A passenger plane can’t just vanish without leaving a trace. Eventually some wreckage will be found and the case will be solved, even if it takes years.
But the disappearance of the Malaysian plane still brings up the issue of airline security. A few years of relative quiet as far as terrorist attacks are concerned led to many states significantly lowering security levels – in airports and aboard the planes themselves.
Even though this is only natural, it still doesn’t make any sense. Global terror is constantly on the rise in terms of intensity and sophistication. Civil aviation is a natural, tempting target, if only due to being a connection point between different states.
Even if a bomb was planted on board the Malaysian plane, or if the passengers with the stolen passports carried the explosives with them, the system failed.
IHLS – Israel Homeland Security
The undiscovered use of stolen passports is only the beginning of this security fiasco. Since it wasn’t made clear who exactly showed the passport at the check-in counter, terrorist databases such as INTERPOL’s couldn’t be used. That’s the first security barrier gone. The second barrier is explosives detection. These devices grew more sophisticated over the last few years, but they’re not found everywhere and even when they are used, sometimes it’s not done correctly.
Once again, this case is still one big unknown, but all signs point towards a terror attack – directly or indirectly – and this requires quick response by all relevant elements.
Civilian aviation is threatened by hijacking attempts, explosive charges and shoulder-launched missiles. There’s no united global effort to deal with all these threats – some countries do it, others don’t.
Decision makers have to understand that aviation is an extremely tempting target for terrorists of all kinds. This requires taking serious, continuous precautions wherever terror might strike. Right now that’s just not happening.
