THE technology of detection in airports, and the international standards of security it demands, has changed remarkably little in the past three decades. Advances have, by and large, been prompted by incidents and atrocities — only then has there been the public pressure, and political compulsion, to act.

Improvements in airport and aircraft security were first necessitated by Cuban hijackings of aircraft travelling to and from the United States in the 1960s. The hijackers used grenades, knives and guns. As a result, X-ray machines and walk-through metal detectors were introduced to identify metallic items.

The Israelis, meanwhile, introduced non-technological solutions to the terrorist threat following the hijacking of an El Al aircraft flying from Rome to Tel Aviv in 1968: passenger profiling and air marshals. But it would be many years before the international community was compelled to recognise the need for such techniques.

In the 1980s — after the Air India and Lockerbie bombings — the screening of hold baggage became a priority. The increased use of colour X-rays allowed security staff not only to discern differences in density, but also between organic and inorganic material. Yet, just as it took 18 years for the screening of hold baggage to become universal, so other pressing evidence has sat in authorities’ in-trays.

In 1994, Islamic terrorists trialled liquid explosives on a Philippines airline flight in preparation for an unsuccessful attempt to blow up 11 aircraft over the Pacific the next year. No major security improvements emerged.

After 9/11 cockpit doors were reinforced. Checks on shoes followed the arrest of Richard Reid, the shoe bomber. Metal detectors had been unable to pick up the bomb’s metallic elements so close to the floor.

This latest incident must be the spur for a new era of security advances. X-ray machines must incorporate explosive detection technology that can detect traces or vapours on a bag. High-definition body X-rays must become standard. Most importantly, we must embrace human profiling by experts, using the most sophisticated analysis of behaviour. This will not only help to identify possible risks, but also to avoid the hugely time-consuming vetting of people who pose no threat.

Some of these advances will be expensive, some inconveniencing, but ultimately they will ensure that flying provides the safety precautions that any traveller should not only expect, but demand.

Philip Baum is the editor of Aviation Security International

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