Reasons: why security checks at the airport fail
Due to the increase in crime and terrorist attacks at airports and airlines, the security of our airport has become a major concern. The smuggling of weapons, drugs and explosives continues to be concealed through numerous airport checkpoints. The question arises that where are the faults? Why do airport security checks fail even with the best security system? Here we will try to find the answers to these questions and discuss our current airport security management system and some inadvertent flaws in it.
Our current airport security management system
As we know, the TSA (Transport Security Administration) regulates and maintains security controls at airports. But you would be surprised to know that even with TSA, our airport security is not worth the cost, even under the best of circumstances. Still, there are many security breaches at major airports around the world. To stop criminal activities at airports that can cause harm to innocent lives, the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) must work harder and think smarter to make airport security strong and resilient for criminals. Take a look at minor flaws in the TSA that could be the cause of a major terrorist attack or deadly incidents.
The TSA must know that the real threats are not always the travelers
It is not important that only the airline traveler presents terrorism risks. There are many other people who visit the airport for many reasons and it could also be a reason to harm people. There are people who are not travelers but who come to the airport to carry out only illegal activities. There must be a protocol to control these people as well. The TSA must keep a record of each of its visitors. It is possible that a terrorist is already living in your country and is not a traveler. If we talk only about travelers, about 99% of travelers are just travelers who have no objection to passing security checks. They buy a cup of coffee, a cold drink, and some duty-free whiskey. They drink quietly and use Wi-Fi at the airport restaurants. These people do not pose a threat to anyone. There are only a few needle-like terrorists that exist among them in a haystack. The TSA must pay special attention to these criminals and monitor every visitor, regardless of whether a person is a traveler or not.
TSA security officers pay all energy to check luggage
Airport security officers are too busy checking baggage and are expending all their energy on baggage screening. They only check the luggage, but not the person behind the luggage. How can a security guard be sure that he will not find something suspicious in his luggage? Hiding things in luggage is a very easy thing for criminals to do. The TSA must also make a protocol to monitor people along with their luggage in real time and it must be a human intelligence team monitoring to spy on the behavior and actions of passengers.
TSA should invest more in human intelligence because real threats are detected by intelligence, not detection
If you look back at the recent terrorist attacks at airports, you may find that the airport bombs were detected due to human intelligence, not due to detection. The TSA should augment its intelligence staff along with the metal or body scanning machines. A Machine can make mistakes, but human intelligence is not fooled. Human intelligence is smart enough to examine the activities, behavior, facial expressions, and actions of each traveler. They work hard to monitor and spy on every traveler before sending them flying. If even a small part of what is spent on detection were invested in human intelligence services, we would take a real step to make the airport or our airlines safer and more enjoyable.
Security screening machines do not detect all explosives
Security check machines at the entrance gate of airports are not 100% reliable. Even Israel’s airport authority expressed doubts about the machines’ capabilities. It has been proven that security screening machines cannot detect all explosives and can sometimes cause errors.
Increased times at security checkpoints are an opportunity for criminals
TSA checks are a time-consuming process and an opportunity for criminals who are there to carry out deadly incidents. Long lines at the security check gates are not secured. The TSA must learn to get passengers through different security checks quickly and with less hassle. The TSA must also provide security for long lines waiting for their turn to pass a security check.