Why is it that we wait until after the horse runs away to close the barn door?
Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh airport has more security gaps than SpongeBob's teeth. Their baggage screening device doesn't often work, their security personnel don't want to offend passengers by searching them, and there are no plans to change the old scanners. In fact, to save power, the scanners are often unplugged. And while the Obama folks may like the idea of keeping the planet green, I think it's a bad idea in this climate of Islamic terror plaguing the planet.
The October 31 explosion about the Russian airbus that occurred 23 minutes after leaving Sharm el-Sheikh airport makes my point. All 224 people on board were killed, and it's still suspected that a bomb inside the plane cause the "man-made disaster" as Obama would call it with all the PC he can muster.
Russia has since stopped flights to and from the Egyptian airport until security is secured.
Interestingly enough, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said British officials evaluated the airport 10 months ago in cooperation with Egyptian officials, and these idiots were satisfied with the results.
I wonder how satisfied these British officials were when a missile came within 1000 feet of a British airliner in the same airspace the Russian jet was flying when it exploded. They made the ridiculous claim that it was an Egyptian military accident. I doubt that based on the proximity of the missile's path to the plane.
Now the British Transportation Secretary Patrick McLoughlin suggested that the baggage check-in screening process was insufficient, telling the BBC that it imposed its own added checks on its flights "because we weren't wholly satisfied with the way screening had been done."
The barn door is now closed for your safety and security, they're saying.
Officials are blaming what happened at Sharm el-Sheikh airport on "human stupidity" because the scanner operators didn't use the 10-year-old equipment properly.One of the airport officials who anonymously spoke with Fox News said "We only care about appearances. Once they (higher-ups) hear something is coming, suddenly everything gets fixed . . . We wish we had visits every day."
Other officials claims that the scanner was only used selectively and arbitrarily. Is that being Islamophobic?
Charter planes are flying to the resort airport to return stranded passengers home to Russia and Britain. But passengers must leave their baggage back because they still don't have the confidence to ensure that the luggage will not explode midair.
Several ground crew are now being placed under surveillance, which seems to be another "barn door" tactic.
Why weren't any of these measures in place before tragedy struck?
Israel does it right. In an interesting article by Daniel Wagner entitled:
What
Israeli Airport Security Can Teach the World, the security at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport is discussed. They don't wait for the horse to run away before closing the door.
A combination of
diligence, common sense, and consistency are key. Unfortunately, any one or combination of all three elements are usually lacking in our airports throughout the world.
All vehicles arriving at Ben Gurion must go through a preliminary checkpoint where armed guards search the vehicle, exchange some conversation with the driver and passengers to gauge their mood and intentions.
Vehicles are subject to weight sensors and trunk x-ray as well as an undercarriage scan.
Plainclothes officers patrol outside the terminal building. Sophisticated cameras work 24/7 to assist.
Armed security personnel patrol inside the terminal and watch closely those entering the building. Suspicious people, or those who appear anxious, are approached and engaged in conversation.
Departing passengers are questioned by highly-trained security agents, not by people whose goal is to go home to keep up with the Kardashians. The interview process can be as short as a minute to as long as an hour, based on factors like age, race, religion or destination.
There are no fancy x-ray machines or shoes to be removed, but rather, traditional metal detectors are used along with common sense. Security is focused on the human factor, not political correctness or the need to be "cosmetic" about security in order to make people feel safe, rather than making them safe.
Checked-in baggage is put into a pressurized chamber that will set off any explosive device before being put aboard the plane.
Security is not sub-contracted out to private companies and staff are highly trained army graduates with special skills in detection and interrogation. Passenger security increases in scrutiny as people arrive closer to the plane.
In spite of all this, nothing is perfect, but Israel's airport security is as close as it comes .
Nothing is left to chance. The barn doors are nailed shut.
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