The recent memorial service at Ground Zero provided a chilling reminder of 'the new breed of terrorism'.
As pictures of the World Trade Centre disaster flashed across our television screens once more, it still didn't seem real. Alas, the fact that civil aircraft are now a 'legitimate' weapon in the eyes of terror groups is very much a reality.

In the immediate aftermath of September 11, it also became frighteningly apparent that aviation security worldwide left much to be desired. Readers will recall, for example, a News Special in last April's SMT ('Airport bombing risks exposed', p15) which revealed the results of a damning report by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Checks at 32 US airports showed that screening staff failed to spot 70% of knives, 60% of fake bombs and 30% of guns deliberately smuggled through check-in by undercover inspectors. Deplorable.

Closer to home, Heathrow officials were – rightly – put to the national media's collective sword only last February when it emerged that two criminals had escaped with £5 million following a cash van raid in a highly secure area of the airport – the cargo bay, no less. It's not the money that's the real concern here. Those individuals could have been terrorists.

Just how seriously are the authorities – and the security industry in general – taking the subject of airport and aircraft security? Surely, if matters had been resolved in the wake of the American atrocities then there's absolutely no way that incidents like this would be occurring in the first place.

One year on, SMT has conducted a stocktaking exercise of what's being done to safeguard members of the public who place their faith – and their lives – in the hands of airport authorities and the security companies they employ ('Air apparent?', pp24-28) . On the whole, it must be said that the findings are somewhat less than encouraging.

The European Union's political machinery has slowly kicked into gear, but any progress is constantly bedevilled by petty squabbles over funding. No great surprise there, then..

We cannot hope to plug every hole in the dyke. That said, continual pressure must be exerted on the Government, aviation authorities and the airlines until such time that airport security strategies pass muster.

You cannot put a price on human life. No matter the outlay, an 'event' like 9-11 must never be allowed to happen again.

Source

SMT