Shift airport security to high-risk areas, says pilot group

Airport security screeners need to be trained to spot potential terrorists and other dangerous people instead of focusing all their attention on banned items in hand luggage, the Ottawa inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing heard Tuesday.
Two representatives of the Air Line Pilots Association International said Canada should develop a behavioural profiling program so that screeners can carefully analyze the gestures of passengers who may have something to hide.
"It is not a knife that makes a plane go down. It is the person holding it," Jean Labbe, a pilot and former Mountie, told Commissioner John Major.
Craig Hall, an Edmonton pilot and official with the airline union, said scrutinizing someone's conduct is not the same as racial profiling, which has been strongly criticized by civil liberty associations.
"Observing how people act, observing their demeanour can be a very useful tool," Hall said.
He said Israeli airline El Al has used the technique for years with great success, even preventing an imminent bombing when explosives were discovered through questioning of a suspicious passenger.
The association, which represents pilots at several smaller Canadian airlines, also wants Canada to implement a registered air travellers' program so that some low-risk passengers can more easily pass through the country's airports.
"By taking out non-threat individuals and providing them with an expedited way, we can reallocate resources to other areas that are more threatening to us," Hall testified.
"We don't believe that a one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter approach to security screening that treats a member of Parliament at the same level of risk as a federal prison parolee is appropriate."
Hall said both pilots and flight attendants have to go through the same security checks as other passengers only to turn around on the other side and conduct the final pre-boarding checks of passengers.
Instead of being treated like potential terrorists, their expertise should be used to shore up the front-line screening process, Hall said.
24/10/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/Vancouver Sun, Canada.com, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Oct 2007, Foreign Oct 2007, Safety Oct 2007