Countering Air Terrorism

Abstract

Air terrorism is an international phenomenon, and one that is not at all new to the global scene: the first example of a politically-motivated jetliner hijacking happened in July 1968, and the first bomb attack on board a plane occurred in May 1949. Until 1967, the number of terrorist attacks directed against civilian aviation was minimal. From 1967–77, however, the frequency of these terrorist attacks increased rapidly. The highest numbers of terrorist acts against civilian airliners was recorded in the years 1977–86. The current annual frequency of such events represents a decrease of about half from the high-water mark in the early 1980s, but the potential effects of contemporary air terrorism attacks are more dramatic and tragic. Terrorists’ targets in such operations are passenger planes, airports, or airline offices. The events of 11 September 2001 have shown that terrorists can suddenly strike against key facilities—private buildings, government properties, military installations, etc.—in any place on earth. The destruction of symbolic objects can weaken the confidence of citizens in a nation’s government, because the state is not able to secure the safety of their own people. And the attacks of 9/11 also proved that at least some terrorists will not hesitate to use jetliners as “human missiles” to accomplish their aims. On the other hand, civilian aviation is a target of special importance for terrorists, given the global impact of such attacks. Every terrorist event in the air focuses the attention of the world through news coverage and around-the-clock publicity. The most exceptionally effective examples of terrorist acts against aviation targets (from the terrorists’ point of view) involve hijacked jetliners with passengers on board. After attacks of 9/11, U.S. President George W. Bush declared the start of a “global war on terror.” More than seven years later, the fight against terror is not finished, and the anticipated results have not been accomplished. The ongoing round of terrorist attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East constitute a daily reality in those regions. Even now, after eight years of dedicated intelligence and military counter-terrorist activity, it is very difficult to detect and to identify terrorists, and it is often impossible to blame concrete persons and organizations for attacks that occur.