Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2011

FORENSICS JOURNAL Aviation Security: Quantifying Risk and the Precious Price of Air Travel Ed Lugo Often an airport security incident or near incident is exposed on national television, and with each event a security procedure is implemented and a new cost is passed on to the consumer (Thomas 44). Regardless of country or airline, a missed security step could become international news and have a ripple effect on one or several economies. Considering that in the United States nearly one billion security screenings occur during an average 12-month period, significant sums are expended to maintain a safe air travel environment (Gardner and Anderson 218). Why then does it seem that security is disorganized and responds on what appears to be a per incident basis? With the extraordinary number of air travelers, safety strategies must be better planned and effectively measured. Flight safety and the concerns of the traveling public are disconnected and the process used to establish air travel safety is deficient. The effort of this research is to quantify effective airport security strategies and related costs. killed a Maryland Aviation Administration police officer at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI), shot several pilots and bystanders, and gained access to a Delta Airlines DC-9. His intent was to divert the plane to Washington D.C. His goal was to use the plane to deliver the bomb in his briefcase by crashing into the White House. The incident ended when Byck committed suicide during the police standoff (Sweet 152). After the catastrophic events of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks (9/11), the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act legislation earmarked $15 billion for the industry, of which $3 billion was obligated for airline security (Thomas 77). On November 19, 2001, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) was passed; ATSA mandated the creation of the TSA under the control of the Department of Transportation (DOT). It marked ѡ

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