Weekly News (8 Mar 2010- 15 Mar 2010)

AUSTRALIA

On Saturday (13/02), it was reported that a trade union representing staff at Brisbane Airport (BNE) has expressed concern over the security of crew meals and poor screening of personal property being taken airside by airport staff'. The union say that staff at Qantas Flight Catering claim that meals intended for flight crew are clearly identifiable, and are vulnerable to malicious interference. The union also claimed that baggage handling staff and their property are not properly screened. The claims were supported by a local paper which claimed that staff at at Virgin Blue's domestic terminal at BNE were seen to walk from the terminal into a secure area with access to the tarmac, without having their bags checked.


BELGIUM

On Sunday (14/03), an anonymous caller claimed that there was a bomb on board a Ryanair B737 preparing to depart Charleroi Airport (CRL) for Fez (FEZ) in Morocco. The aircraft was searched by security forces, but nothing unusual was found.


INDIA

On Monday (08/03), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) announced that it is increasing security in landside areas at Delhi Airport (DEL), after intelligence indicated that terrorists have considered an attack on the airport entrances and crowded check-in areas. Security is also being enhanced at Mumbai (BOM). The CISF is currently carrying out assessments on similar areas of Kolkata (CCU), Hyderabad (HYD) and Bangalore (BLR), and intends to expand the programme to the country’s 57 large airports.


On Wednesday (10/03), it was reported that India’s sky marshals have threatened to stop flying on Air India and Jet Airways flights, operating between Mumbai (BOM) and Kathmandu (KTM), after colleagues made a number of complaints of insufficient food and lodging arrangements on missions. In response, the Civil Aviation Ministry has written to all carriers operating in the region, asking that they treat sky marshals on a par with cabin crew. In response to an increased threat of hijacking, the Indian Government deployed sky marshals on flights to neighbouring states.


On Friday (12/03), an anonymous caller claimed that there was a bomb on board an Indigo Airlines A320 operating between Delhi (DEL) and Bangalore (BLR). The aircraft was searched by the CISF, and all pax and baggage were reverse screened. Nothing unusual was found. One uncorroborated report claimed that the hoax call was traced to a mobile phone. The caller had demanded to talk to a named member of staff, and made the bomb threat when his request was refused.


NETHERLANDS

On Tuesday (09/03), the National Anti-terror Coordinator announced that security procedures at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (AMS) had been tightened in response to a report in ASN last week that a group of reporters refilled bottles bought at a duty free store, resealed them and smuggled them back into the store where they had bought them. The Coordinator said that there would be tighter checks on bottles bought in duty free outlets. AMS was targeted because the screening of passengers and cabin baggage is conducted at the boarding gate rather than prior to entering the departure lounge where the duty-free shops are located. A spokesperson for AMS said the airport was aware of the possible weak link in its security before it was exposed on national television, but it was judged to be an acceptable level of risk.


UNITED KINGDOM

On Tuesday (09/03), a man and woman were arrested in connection with two laser attacks on a helicopter operated by Bedfordshire Police. The aircraft was responding to a call in Luton when a laser was pointed at it on two occasions in the same area. The two suspects were arrested for the new offence of ‘shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract’. Both were released on bail.


On Thursday (11/03), a Bangladeshi born British Airways IT engineer appeared in court in London charged with a series of terrorist offences. Rajib Karim faces two charges of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and one charge of fundraising for the purposes of terrorism. He was remanded in custody. The three charges span a four-year period, from 13 April 2006 to 25 February this year, and relate to offences inside and outside of the UK. The court heard that the man had offered to take advantage of planned strikes by BA staff to join the airline's cabin crew.


UNITED STATES

On Wednesday (10/03), a former TSA employee appeared in a Colorado court, charged with trying to damage computer systems there after he lost his job. The prosecution claim that Douglas James Duchak, 46, tried to infect a computer at the TSA's Colorado Springs Operations Center with malicious code. The code, a logic bomb installed last October, was designed to cause damage and disrupt data on servers on an undisclosed date but was discovered before it caused any damage. He entered a not-guilty plea. The operations centre handles information from a terrorist screening database.


On Thursday (11/03), it was reported that in the three months since the arrest of Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the US ‘no-fly’ list has nearly doubled — from about 3,400 people to about 6,000 people. The report stated that the list expanded, in part, to add people associated with AQ in Yemen and Nigeria.


TSA Weekly Stats (1st - 7th March, 2010)

4 artfully concealed prohibited items found at checkpoints

19 firearms found at checkpoints

13 pax arrested due to suspicious behaviour or fraudulent travel documents