Pilots cite ‘substantial risk’ of terror attacks

OTTAWA – Airline crews and passengers face "substantial risks" when they board airplanes because of major holes in aviation security, Canada’s largest pilot group concludes in a newly released report.

The Air Canada Pilots Association’s policy white paper on aviation security commends the federal government for the progress it has made since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but said big changes are still needed in order to enhance global aviation security.

"In our assessment, many major gaps in the overall aviation security environment remain unresolved and continue to pose substantial risks to civil aviation employees, users and facilities," the association, representing more than 3,000 pilots who operate Air Canada’s main line fleet, says in its report.

This is demonstrated "on a regular basis through the execution of unsettling, ‘near-miss’ attempted terrorist attacks against the worldwide civil aviation network."

In Canada, the security committee of the Air Canada Pilots Association is targeting the powers delegated to the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency, a Crown corporation created in 2002.

"As those subject to frequent interactions with CATSA, we believe we are well positioned to observe its strengths and inherent weaknesses," the report states.

Calling on the Conservative government to support an intelligence-focused and "whole of government" approach to aviation security, the pilot group wants a single government department to assume responsibilities delegated to CATSA and local airport authorities.

The current devolution of powers "precludes any ability for this agency to develop and implement the intelligence-based plans required to stay ahead of an evolving and adoptive threat," the report states.

Part of this effort would be to shift emphasis from basic passenger screening to proactive policing and intelligence gathering. This would include combining existing closed circuit television systems with facial recognition software to scan for known security threats at major airports, as well as bolstering policing activities at airports, the white paper argues.

In addition to training security personnel in behavioural pattern recognition, Transport Canada should mandate the training of crews and other airline staff in behavioural profiling so they can pick out physiological or bodily hints of any hostile intent in their behaviour, the report states.

The federal government earlier this week launched a full review of CATSA, responsible for the pre-board screening of passengers and baggage screening through airport explosives detection systems.

Paul Strachan, president of the Air Canada Pilots Association, says the bottom line is the federal government has delegated too much responsibility to this Crown corporation.

"Taking a more comprehensive approach to aviation security requires that that responsibility cannot rest with civilian authorities or Crown corporations," said Strachan.

Last month, Transport Minister John Baird announced $96 million in funding for commercial-cargo-screening programs to be spent over the next five years. That commitment followed an announcement in January to spend $11 million on 44 full-body scanners to boost screening of passengers bound for the United States.

That expenditure came just days after a foiled attempt by the so-called "Christmas Day bomber" to blow up a major airliner.

The report highlights this incident, along with the U.K.’s "liquid bomb" plot of 2006 and the 2001 "shoe bomber" case, as evidence of big holes that need to be plugged, but cautions that beefing up basic screening is not the solution.

"Almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks, it is apparent that civil aviation remains a viable and attractive target for terrorist elements and that the industry has narrowly dodged several very large bullets," the white paper states.