Extra security for US-bound planes

Following the foiled Detroit terror attack on the Norwest Airlines flight, airlines have stepped up security for US-bound flights on advice of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

On Saturday, a Nigerian tried to detonate an explosive device onboard Norwest Airlines flight 253 but failed. The flight was bound for Detroit from Amsterdam carrying 278 passengers, all of whom are safe.

Saroj Datta of Jet Airways, said his airline has already started implementing instructions issued by the US authorities. “We are putting additional security measures in place,” he said.

Jet operates two flights daily to two US airports — JFK and Newark. State-owned Air India, which has four daily flights to the US, has also tightened passenger and luggage screening procedures to conform to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the upgraded US government security rules.

“We have been told by the US government to beef up security at the last point of embarkment, which would be Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad for us. We are doing everything to conform to Indian and US security agencies’ orders,” said Jitendra Bhargava, executive director of Air India.

What would the heightened security mean for travelers? Stringent screening of baggage and security checks at several points by airports and airlines. An official from the Transport Security Administration (TSA), US government body, told DNA that the DHS has asked airlines to carry out more random checks and secondary screenings.

“Airlines and airports are already doing random checks and secondary screenings but now they have been requested to increase them by three or four times,” he said. Since the terror attack on the US carrier has come at a time — Christmas and New Year — when the domestic airlines and airports are already on a high alert, it has not changed their security system dramatically.

For instance, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), on a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), had increased security at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. So the Detroit terror has not drastically changed security procedures being followed at the Mumbai airport.

Even the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said they were already prepared to meet any eventuality and have not pressed the panic button.

“We had intensified security at major airports because of Christmas and New Year. This includes increased patrolling, passenger profiling, manual baggage screening, etc,” said Jitendra Singh Negi, senior commandant, CISF.  “We are prepared to meet any contingency situation.” Despite claims of preparedness by airports and airlines, industry sources said there were still many deficiencies in the security system.

“We are way behind other countries in our air safety system. Our passenger profiling is not at par with global standards. The inline baggage checking system installed at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore airports do not have 360 degree view. So, a passenger can easily smuggle a weapon if kept in a certain position,” said an expert. He also said the sniffer dogs in Indian airports were not enough. “All this make an Indian air traveller vulnerable to attacks,” said the expert.