Airlines News: Hawks calls to planes causing chaos and loss of crores, is there any solution?

How to know which threats are real and which are fake?

It is important to note that despite the large number of fraudulent calls ever since these threats began, aviation authorities have diverted only a handful of aircraft for ground checks. This shows that every effort has been made to minimize the inconvenience caused to passengers due to fraudulent calls.

It is difficult to decide whether a threat should be taken seriously, but repeated threatening calls of the same type should be considered ‘non-specific’ and ignored. It is understood that BCAS has amended the rules in this regard, although this cannot be discussed publicly.

technology is the solution

Technology can be a better solution to deal with such threats. Currently, X-ray machines used for baggage screening have limited data retrieval and storage capacity. They are not interconnected nor can they sort and store aircraft-specific baggage data.

If such a system can be developed then it will become easier for any aircraft to deal with the bomb threat. Without landing the aircraft, one can determine whether explosives are indeed present or not, simply by examining photographs of the items on board that particular aircraft. However, this will require networking of X-ray machines among all agencies, uniform standards of screening methodology and centralized monitoring of day-to-day security operations of the airport.

What happens if you receive a threat?

Whenever a threat to a flight is received, a ‘Bomb Threat Assessment Committee’ is formed. This committee is headed by the airport director (to which the flight is serving) and includes the Chief Airport Security Officer of that airport, who may be a senior CISF or State Police officer, BCAS and Intelligence Bureau officials. Are involved. This committee decides whether the threat is very serious or moderate.

If the threat is deemed very serious the aircraft is asked to land at the nearest airport, where all passengers, baggage and the aircraft are thoroughly checked. If the threat is considered routine, the flight for which the threat has been received is allowed to proceed to the destination and screened on arrival.

This is why aviation authorities have kept diversions to a minimum during this period of threats. The fact that a large number of threatening calls were made after that aircraft had landed indicates that the caller visited only a few airline portals and made the calls randomly with the aim of disrupting airline operations.

These are also effective solutions

Certainly, these misdeeds are being done to adversely affect the economic interests of the country and to create an atmosphere of insecurity. Identifying, apprehending, and effectively prosecuting criminals will be the best approach against this threat. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Interpol need to be part of the efforts to catch the culprits as in recent incidents a large number of foreign airlines have also received threat calls from the same source.