List of Figures
Figure 1. The General Aviation Fleet ..................................4
List of Tables
Table 1. U.S. General Aviation Fleet and Activity ........................3
Securing General Aviation
When the term general aviation (GA) is mentioned, the image most likely to be conjured is one of a small single-engine airplane droning over America’s farmland on a tranquil summer’s day. In the post-9/11context, this pastoral image of GA has been tarnished to a degree by knowledge that the 9/11 hijackers trained in small general aviation aircraft in the United States and amid lingering concerns that GA aircraft could be used in a future terrorist attack. While some recent high-profile breaches of GA security have pointed to persisting vulnerabilities, and limited intelligence information may suggest a possible terrorist “fixation”1 on using aircraft to attack U.S. interests, GA aircraft vary significantly with regard to the risks they pose. The threats and vulnerabilities of a small single-engine airplane operating in rural settings is intuitively quite different than the risk characteristics of large business jets operating in and near major metropolitan areas. Most experts agree that an adaptive approach to securing GA aircraft and airports that takes into account the unique risk characteristics of the various distinct components of GA is needed to assure that security needs are adequately met and balanced with economic considerations of the GA industry.2
Policymakers have received mixed signals about the relative risk posed by general aviation. While the 9/11 Commission asserted that “[m]ajor vulnerabilities still exist in ...general aviation security,”3 the commission did not further elaborate on the nature of those vulnerabilities nor did it make specific recommendations pertaining to GA security. The FAA has noted that “[w]hile the DHS has no specific information that terrorist groups are currently planning to use general aviation (GA) aircraft to perpetrate attacks against the United States, it remains concerned that (in light of completed and ongoing security enhancements for commercial aircraft and airports) terrorists may turn to GA as an alternative method for conducting operations.”4 In other words, while GA aircraft and airports may not be optimally suited for terrorist objectives, the hardening of commercial operations may make them an attractive alternative to terrorists seeking to identify and exploit
1 See Associated Press. “U.S. Uncovers Al-Qaida Plot in Pakistan; The Terrorist Group Allegedly Planned to Fly an Airplane into the American Consulate.” Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa), May 3, 2003, p. A7.
2 See Report of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee Working Group on General Aviation Airport Security (October 1, 2003); and Transportation Security Administration, Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports. Information Publication A-001 (May 2004).
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