Effects of the 9/11 Attacks on U.S. Aviation Security

The 9/11 attack was a gruesome catastrophe for the United States. It also presented future threats for the citizens of the country. The very fact that one of America’s most popular buildings, situated in one of its major cities, was attacked in broad daylight and leaving hundreds of people dead, was indeed a nightmare for the nation. The most ironic thing was that the terrorists used American planes for the attack. Since then, aviation security in the US has witnessed a lot of changes and adjustments, and it sure will never be the same again.

The Homeland Security Department admitted that prior to the 9/11 attacks, there was lack of tighter security for private planes entering the US mainland. This allowed questionable identities and terrorists to sneak in to our country and possibly carrying weapons, bombs and detonators. Many believe that the pilots who took control of the planes that hit the World Trade Center used private planes to enter the country. New Homeland Security rules demand that each non-US pilot entering America must first present the names, birthdates and other personal information of their passengers. The submission of passenger’s personal information must be done at least one hour before take-off. This will allow the Homeland Security department to know the background of foreign passengers who enter the country using private planes.

Other security measures have been implemented, such as behavior detection. The Transportation Security Agency employed 2,000 airport screeners. Their main job is to observe the airport premises for anyone with suspicious demeanor. They then apprehend these people for questioning and background profiling. The actions, body language and speech patterns of suspicious people are carefully studied while they are profiled. Although behavior detection has raised many eyebrows and actually weakened our country’s tourism, this practice made our people more aware of the danger of terrorist attacks. It also prevented the Aviation Security departments from putting their guard down. Instead, this sort of tight security gave our citizens a greater sense of safety in the airports.

In November 2001, the Aviation Security Act was passed and approved by the 107th Congress with the hopes of improving and tightening air security. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, screening passengers was solely within the jurisdiction of each individual airport. After the Aviation Security Act, this responsibility of airport security was turned over to the Federal government. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) was formed within the Homeland Security Department to monitor all airports and tighten security in all areas, including alternative modes of travel.

The Aviation Security Act also provided the resources to “adequately train, supervise, and retain airport screeners” (Inouye, 2001). Within nine months wherein the senate bill was passed, the Federal government employed hundreds of airport screeners, security personnel and law enforcement personnel. These newly employed men went under rigid training and they can do far better than just searching bags and doing luggage X-rays. They are trained about self-defense and basic combat skills in case emergency situations arise. Highly trained federal personnel, called Federal Air Marshalls, were placed on each high risk flight, especially when the flight contains VIP passengers. Access to the flight deck was prohibited to anyone except the flight crew. The doors of flight decks were strengthened and must be tightly locked during the flight. Video cameras are now allowed to be installed within the airports and the planes themselves, so that Federal security will be able to monitor all areas and check them for possible alarms.

Racial and religious profiling has also been a hot issue lately. Many believe that it is the key to tighter security and airport safety. Things such as knives, detonators, liquid bombs and other stuff can’t make any attack. Terrorists initiate these attacks. Therefore, many argue that it is more effective for the Federal government to put greater focus on screening people, and less on luggage. Stopping one person with strong Islamic extreme fundamentalist beliefs would be better than checking a thousand bags with knives and possible detonators. Although religious profiling is still banned from Federal policy, airport screeners now tend to check longer on Muslim passengers. This is not an attempt to put a prejudice on the entire Muslim community. However, it is well known to everyone that the initiators of the 9/11 attacks are Muslim and they have fundamentalist religious background. Thus, aviation security now makes sure that Muslim people get extra attention upon entering airport premises.