Civil Aviation Safety - Research Paper Example

s Civil Aviation safety refers to a vast array of aspect involving physical, public, legal, governmental as wellas international safety standards which must be maintained in order to retain the civil aviation standards. Thus, civil aviation safety may not just be limited to the aeronautical engineering standards as many confuse, rather it involves ensuring safety standards ranging from the quality of aircraft, the vigilance of personnel, skills and expertise of pilots and other engineering staff, safety in terms of baggage and carriers, also in terms of legal covers, insurance issues, governmental legislations along with many other related aspects. However, one of the most recent concerns directly affecting the functionality and operations of the civil aviations is the issue of terrorism. Since aircrafts are soft targets for the terrorist faction and their aim of leaving deep impact on the minds of the people is met, thus civil aviation has become quite vulnerable to terrorism. Given the severity of the lasting impacts that the issue may raise, priority must be given to engage the stakeholders in order to ensure that the damages are minimized. In this context, a paradigm has been emerged in the existing model of civil aviation safety to ensure measures aiming at minimizing terrorist episodes on flights. This paradigm incorporates measures like information desk being managed by US department of State, technologically enhanced equipment to screen the passengers, cargo screening, improved intelligence measures along with efforts to build an informed network of passengers. The Department of Home incorporated an advisory system which was color coded to keep the masses alert. In addition, efforts at global level are also at play, for instance, the International Civil Aviation Organization is working in collaboration with the UN to develop security measures to deal with the issue of terrorism in context to civil aviation safety. The paper will aim at analyzing the paradigm shift in the wake of the threat of terrorism to civil aviation safety. There is no second opinion in the view that the civil aviation industry has been impacted by the threat of terrorism. Though terrorism related incident had occurred in the pre-September 11 era as well, yet in the aftermath of September 11 attacks the situation became worse off than it ever was. The international traffic right after the attack saw around 40 percent drop-off in a few markets (Howard, Forest & Moore 66). Furthermore, the incident of Code Orange added insult to injury and the drop-out rate was enhanced. However, Americans were the ones who reflected the most staggering trend since many families reportedly delayed rather cancelled significant business trips and vacations to avoid the risks of terrorism on flights. According to a recent estimate around 20 percent of Americans now prefer travelling via road instead of airplanes. Also, those who weren’t as affected by the terrorism attempts on airline were being affected by the security checks on the airports which had now become quite aggressive, and thus now left an impact of the psyche of the Americans due to which they now avoid air-travel. Thus, the responsibility of the US State Department and the Homeland Department becomes quite complex since they now have to deal with the policy paradigms and also the issue of implementation. Thus, the US State Department has developed an information sharing system whereby travel advisories for specific locations had been determined. Though it is a known fact that terrorist activities are unpredictable and since the passengers and the aircraft with minimal surveillance may be a soft target for the terrorists, the passengers may feel unsafe. For this reason, the rhetoric of the American aviation related rhetoric has been drastically changed where efforts are being made to construct an informed faction of passengers. Passengers are now advised at every step of the process to be smart about their travel. The foremost responsibility lies on the passengers when they pick the destination. The US State Department has developed an information sharing system where alert zones have been determined beforehand and restricted or high risk areas have been pointed out, and the passengers must avoid encounters with such locations. Furthermore, the security checks have been heightened whereby background checks are initiated while issuance of Visa or other relevant documents (Howard, Forest & Moore 18). Similarly, the personnel at the airports are given extensive psychological training to ensure that they spot unusual behavior. In addition, XRay machines and updated equipment has been placed on almost all significant airports to ensure that the luggage never goes unidentified. Also, in special cases, the personnel at security check points are even authorized to go through extensive checking of the luggage. Metal detectors are also in place to get hold of even the most minor tool which may later become source of aggression. Also, the passengers may also be required to take off pieces of clothing to reveal if anything unusual may be predicated. In addition, a rapid intelligence network has also been developed in this context to avoid the risks beforehand. Various agencies are simultaneously engaged in intelligence activities to enhance the response measures. Thus, there are rapid transformations in the entire rhetoric and culture of the civil aviation in the wake of terrorist attempt whereby the paradigms are shifting by the day. In addition to the generic changes in the paradigm, a more concrete step to counter the terrorism is the development of the Homeland Security Advisory System which is popularly known as a color coded threat management system to identify and indicate the level of terrorism trigger. Specific colors are representatives of triggers which imply that certain action must be taken via federal or state agencies. Not only that, certain colors also represented the level of security threat at an airport or other similar public facilities. The US media often refers to the system as the terror alert level. The system came through by April 2011 which was later replaced by a more complicated system called the Advisory system. The system came into being after a Security Directive from the Presidency in response to the attacks of September 11, with a goal to come up with a comprehensive yet effective strategy aiming at disseminating information so that an increased level of coordination is determined between the federal, local and even the state agencies to reflect prompt action. By 2003, the entire system was being managed by the Department of Homeland Security which was administering the entire process. The Secretary of the Homeland Security, however, is responsible to make the decision regarding which information to make public, depending on the need and complexity of the situation. Later in 2011, the system was improvised to develop an improved two tiered advisory system, with color coded information dissemination to enhance action and ensure clarity. (Howard, Forest & Moore 117). Given the significance of the system owing to its impact of the counter terrorism efforts with respect to civil aviation, it is crucial to discuss the salient features of the plan. The system was developed on the blueprints of forest fire system where a scale of around five colors is developed and standardized to reflect the intensity and nature of the threat. These colors directly reflect the probability of the attack and its expected gravity. In this context, the color red is representative of severe risk, orange representing high risk, yellow being reflective of significant risks whole blue and green being reflected to demonstrate general and low risk respectively. As a response to these triggers certain response measures are initiated via government agencies, the knowledge of which hasn’t been made public as yet. However, a general response is often reflected via federal agencies in presence of the threat as often reported by the media. For instance, at red alert zones often increased presence of policy or other security personnel can be senses, similarly closer monitoring of certain borders or points of entry may be observed, alongside other measures of similar nature. US has seen threats of distinct nature at various points in time. For instance, the threat level has been raised to the red at once instance where a British official from law enforcement announced a threat that an aircraft may blow up as a result of a major terrorism master-plan to hit the commercial aircrafts back in 2006. Similarly, an orange level threat has been observed at various points in time; on the first anniversary of the 9/11 incident, in 2003 after Iraq was bombed, in 2007 after the London bombings (Wilkinson & Brian 109). Thus, at various points in time, US has seen effective implementation of the advisory plan in place. Though the plan still have a few loopholes which must be addressed, yet the major long terms objectives haven’t been compromised so far and the credit must be given to the plan in place being administered by the Department of Homeland Security. Coming to the global pretext of the civil aviation safety, the international community is also well aware of the challenge posited by terrorism. Thus, the entire community has joined hands to combat the threat and make civil aviation safer than ever. Since the commercial aspects of the civil aviation affects the relations of various countries, it is an issue which can never be resolved at a state level, and thus, an intervention at the global level is inevitable. The International Civil Aviation Organization is working tirelessly to achieve its objectives to attain a flawless and a secure civil aviation network. Since the future progress in terms of civil aviation will prove to be a strong determinant of bilateral as well as multilateral relationships, the organization is engaged in involving the global community to determine a model to deal with the issue, where increased level of cooperation is expected amongst member states. An agreement between the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization came along a long time back, yet additions and moderations are added to the relationship to deal with the current crises, terrorism being a recent threat to the system. The strategy objectives to be achieved by 2016 under the partnership of ICAO and the United Nations categorically includes security and facilitation clause, whereby, focus is on the global civil aviation security network. This clause inherently deals with traveler identification measures in context to border security imperatives. The threats to the international network of civil aviation are imminent due to which various legal instruments have been standardized over time to deal with the issue. For instance, in 2005, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism touched upon the issue of civil aviation as well. Similarly, the Beijing convention on Suppression of Unlawful Acts relating to civil aviation in 2010 also focused on ground rules to deal with the issue. Thus, over the time, various treaties and conventions have taken place to bring the agenda on table to determine paradigms which may be effective to counter the issue at hand. The organization also collects relevant data and information regarding civil aviation which may be crucial in policy formation and decision making by the authorities. Research indicates that in 2002, around 2.9 billion passengers were recorded to have travelled in around 1000 airlines, with more than 4000 airports and 36 million routes, also with a large cargo volume. Thus, the policy to counter terrorism must be created keeping the vast data which indicates significance. Also, ICAO offers regulatory as well as technical role in civil aviation, also offers assistance, thus keeping terrorism on the agenda for the organization is quite critical. In an effort to institutionalize the efforts, the ICAO has determined proper measures as its assistance measures which is critical to ensure civil aviation and protect the network from terrorism. The idea is to develop a universal civil aviation security audit programme which is expected to play the role of oversight and implementation of audit measures to ensure that corrective measure are being taken to counter terrorism. In addition, a recommendation to develop a implementation support and development programme is also in the making which implies that compliance measures would be taken, also various trainings, workshops and other assistance would be offered to deal with the issue (Harrison 99-100). Lastly, a technical cooperation bureau would be placed under the framework which would assist in determining qualitative standards in terms of technicalities to minimize the risks of terrorism. Efforts are being made currently n this context to reach breakthroughs to achieve the desired objectives. In addition, an integrated information sharing system amongst the states must also be in place so that biometric identification of the passengers is ensures and the data must be tallied with the system to ensure that these suspects don’t find their way to the aircrafts thinking of it as easy targets. In coordination with UN, the ICAO can achieve its target of developing state of the art technology to register complaints and also verifying the travel documents. Thus, the process of institutionalizing measures must be augmented to achieve results. Conclusively, aircrafts are soft targets for the terrorist factions and their aim of leaving deep impact on the minds of the people draws their attention towards commercial aircrafts, thus civil aviation has become quite vulnerable to terrorism. Given the severity of the lasting impacts that the issue may raise on the lives of the ordinary people, priority must be given to engage the government as well as the relevant factions in order to ensure that the damages are minimized. There is no second opinion in the view that the civil aviation industry has been impacted by the threat of terrorism. Though terrorism related incident had occurred in the pre-September 11 era as well, yet in the aftermath of September 11 attacks the situation became worse off than it ever was. In this context, a paradigm has been emerged in the existing model of civil aviation safety to ensure measures aiming at minimizing terrorist episodes on flights. This paradigm incorporates measures like information desk being managed by US department of State, technologically enhanced equipment to screen the passengers, cargo screening, improved intelligence measures along with efforts to build an informed network of passengers. The Department of Home incorporated an advisory system which was color coded to keep the masses alert. In addition, efforts at global level are also at play, for instance, the International Civil Aviation Organization is working in collaboration with the UN to develop security measures to deal with the issue of terrorism in context to civil aviation safety. Thus, there are rapid transformations in the entire rhetoric and culture of the civil aviation in the wake of terrorist attempt whereby the paradigms are shifting by the day. The paper aimed at analyzing the paradigm shift in the wake of the threat of terrorism to civil aviation safety to shed light on how the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have managed to come up with organized policy paradigms to deal with the issue, also to place the issue in international context since the subject may not just be left to one state. Works Cited: Harrison, John. International Aviation and Terrorism: Evolving Threats, Evolving Security. London: Routledge, 2009. Internet resource. Howard, R. D., Forest, J. J. F., & Moore, J. C. (2006). Homeland security and terrorism: Readings and interpretations. New York: McGraw-Hill. Wilkinson, Paul, and Brian M. Jenkins. Aviation Terrorism and Security. London: Frank Cass, 2009. Print. Read More