New Ben-Gurion security would have prevented LA shooting

Ha'aretz ^ | July 5, 2002 | Zohar Blumenkrantz

[Clive]

The gunman who carried out the shooting attack at Los Angeles airport on Thursday took full advantage of the current security procedures at the airport, which allow anyone to accompany passengers right up to the security check counter. A chronology of attacks against El Al.

Had the attack taken place in Israel, the gunman would not have been allowed to enter the sterile area inside the departures terminal, because of the new security system implemented at Ben-Gurion Airport just days ago. Attack on boarding passengers: El Al's most practiced scenario.

The new system means that the traditional pre-check-in security questioning is replaced by a computerized scanning system, which checks the luggage of all passengers leaving Ben-Gurion. The specially built apparatus is designed to detect any suspicious or dangerous objects in a passenger's luggage, minimizing the potentially dangerous element of human discretion.

The technology is already at work in 10 airports around the world where El Al operates, and the installation of the system at Ben-Gurion is part of a series of steps decided on by Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh to bolster security after September 11.

The problem with this new system is that for the time being, the technology is only being used for outgoing El Al flights, but it will gradually be implemented for all departures, as well as for domestic flights.

Yam Yehoshua adds: There have been five security incidents at airports and aboard flights in the past months. On December 22, 2001, a citizen of Sri Lanka, carrying a forged British passport in the name of Richard Wright, boarded an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. He attempted to detonate his shoes, which contained explosives, but was discovered by a flight attendant and arrested.

On January 5, a 15-year-old youth crashed a light plane into a Florida skyscraper, apparently in sympathy with the cause of Osama Bin Laden. The pilot was killed in the incident, but no one else was injured.

On January 19, an Israeli citizen inadvertently smuggled a gun aboard on an El Al flight, after the security check failed to find the weapon in his suitcase. On January 26, a kibbutz volunteer smuggled a flare onto an El Al flight to Johannesburg. The passenger told the flight attendant about his clandestine package, and was removed from the plane. On January 30, thousands of people were evacuated from the international airport in San Francisco, after security officials found traces of explosives on a man's shoes. The passenger was not subsequently located.

[goldstategop]

Granted El Al's security system is not bullet proof; there will never be 100% security in life cause even the best system can be defeated if people have the mind to do it. You may outlaw illegal acts but you can't prevent people from deciding if the thrill of committing it is worth the risk. The bottom line is El Al is still the benchmark by which aviation security is measured and now the real concern is to stop a potential homocide bomber from being in a ticket counter check in area. If that Egyptian nut had blown himself up, casualties could have easily been in the hundreds instead of just three dead people. We need to get a handle on this scenario before it does happen and its only a matter of time before terrorists conclude they will have more of an impact taking out hundreds of people with a kamikaze strike than a mere handful by machine gunning the inside of airports.

[monkeyshine]

thousands of people were evacuated from the international airport in San Francisco, after security officials found traces of explosives on a man's shoes. The passenger was not subsequently located.

They got him to take off his shoes, but could not locate him? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.