Security expert: Aviation safety depends on the staff – New Technology

     Egypt was Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, right, visiting Hassana in Egypt, where the Russian passenger plane crashed after a now confirmed terrorist acts. Photo: TT
     

Modern security systems are not better than the staff who care for them. With that said, the airports in the EU are very secure. All staff checked in the same way as passengers, said air security expert Dan Larsson to new technologies.

After the attack on the Russian passenger plane over Sinai few weeks ago, two employees at the airport in the Egyptian Sharm el-Sheik arrested on suspicion of having helped to place a bomb on the plane.

How can that be possible with modern security?

– X-ray systems and electronic noses (explosives detectors) just gets better and better. But it does not help to have a fantastic screen passengers unless you have the corresponding monitoring of all staff. One must be clear about what a security at an airport. It acts as a dam, no matter how high and dense it is in some places, the water flows inexorably over where it is lowest, says Dan Larsson, who after 17 years as head of security at Landvetter since last year’s independent consultant in security and crisis management.

An airport is a very complex business. It is not just about the passengers and crew, but often more than 100 companies involved, and government agencies. Often we talk about a society in miniature. Vendors, guards, restaurants, vendors, bakers, customs officers, cleaners, inspectors, banks, drivers, service firms, airlines, air traffic control, the list can be endless.

– All these companies are included in the security system. They need security control their own staff. All this complexity makes it difficult to protect the airport. And that is the weakest link in the chain deficiencies, says Dan Larsson.

Passenger control itself often reminds industrial activities. 1000s of people checked in an hour. Nothing should click. This technology has a key role.

– But you can not just rely on technology, even if it is constantly getting better. Ultimately, it is nonetheless a human brain to determine whether an indication should be made. Then you have to understand and have a professional attitude to risk and what is seen on a radiograph. That might take a picture from a different angle or opening a bag, even if it is urgent and passagerarkön growing, says Dan Larsson.

Would not the easiest to control all entrances to the plane with bomb-sniffing dogs and electronic noses?

– Hardly easier. Safety systems’re not built solely for maximum security, there must be practical too. A plan has many inputs and when it has landed and then to start, it is called a turnaround, it is a hive of activity with luggage trucks, catering, toilets discharge, cleaning squads, fuel, water, new crew, technicians. Everything should be done in an extremely short time, there are numerous passages through all the openings in the plane and then, passengers on. Adding security check where each pass would probably crack the flight that idea.

Instead occurs when the control at key points. The airport is divided into zones, and the closest planet must be completely clean. In Europe, checked passengers and staff in the same way.

– Unable to provide 100-percent guarantee that nothing can slip through at an airport in the EU, but the system is so good it goes. Although someone would manage to bribe an airport employee, it is unlikely that he can get on board any unwanted says Dan Larsson.