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Lifting the liquid limit
Stephen Hogan, Director Government Affairs Europe, Rapiscan Systems sets out how regulators, manufacturers and the aviation industry are working hard to ensure airport security keeps one step ahead of the international threat of terrorism while minimising the impact on the airline passenger
The plot to bring down transatlantic airlines in August 2006 brought on an immediate ban on passengers taking liquids on board aircrafts when travelling. Two months later a 100ml limit allowance was introduced as a concession to passengers following security advice on how much liquid would be needed to make a workable explosive device. As a result, many passengers have been forced to limit the everyday items they might otherwise carry in their hand luggage, including such items as shaving cream, shampoo and deodorant. Moreover, expensive duty free purchases such as high value alcohols and cosmetics can be confiscated from transfer passengers arriving from outside the European Union.
On top of this, many airline passengers experience delays and inconvenience as passengers divest and airport security staff inspect the clear plastic bags that are used to store liquids under 100ml before scanning and allowing them through to the departure lounge.
With pressure from the travelling public, airlines and others for these regulations to change, air passengers worldwide will see the start of this100ml restriction being lifted, with the European Union (EU) taking steps to remove the ban on liquids during 2010. The relaxation of these rules necessitates enhanced means to identify potentially dangerous liquid threats accurately and efficiently – and the answer lies in the advanced scanning technologies.
The plot
The eight men who are currently standing trial in London for plotting to explode home-made bombs on transatlantic planes, planned to make bombs using simple household ingredients and items, such as torch batteries, flashbulbs and disposable cameras. They intended to use a peroxide based liquid and one other readily available material that would have been mixed and placed into an everyday Oasis or Lucozade bottle. The highly explosive liquid would have then been syringed carefully into a hole drilled out the bottom of a 500 ml bottle and made sure the seals would remain intact, the result was no visible signs that the bottles had been tampered with. Meaning the threat was not detected and would make it onto the plane with potentially devastating results.
At the time the plot was discovered airport security equipment was deemed largely incapable of classifying liquid explosives with sufficient accuracy and therefore prompted the outright ban on liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) in carry-on baggage. The plot shook all European airports and in the immediate aftermath of the arrest of the first suspected bomber, the British terror alert level was raised from 'severe' to 'critical' signalling that an attack was imminent.
The chaos
As news broke of the arrests and plot, chaos ensued with record queues of passengers waiting to check-in and get through the heightened security procedures. On Sunday 13th August 2006, 30 per cent of flights out of Heathrow had been cancelled to reduce the pressures that were being placed on security staff. Overall, an estimated 400,000 passengers were affected, 20,000 passenger bags were believed to have been lost at Heathrow and the first day of delays cost the airlines over £175 million.
Although the strict security measures have been relaxed slightly since August 2006, the ability for passengers to carry liquids onto commercial flights is still heavily restricted and it is these restrictions that the European Commission (EC) is under pressure to remove. The EC wants to allow airport security staff to be able to treat currently prohibited liquids in the same manner as classically prohibited items, such as guns and knives.
A number of bilateral agreements between the EU and third countries such as Singapore and South Korea have been reached that allow passengers travelling to and from the EU and the third country to carry LAG's as hand luggage if they are carried in so-called secure tamper-proof bags (STIBs). But these country-by-country agreements are difficult and time consuming to negotiate and as such inefficient from the perspective of the global airport retail industry. As a possible first step, a solution that facilitated screening of purchases from such passengers would clearly be more effective for both travellers, airports and regulators.
The technology
European regulators and the aviation industry have started to evaluate presently available technologies ready for 2010 deployment, but the problem presented by liquid explosives has proved difficult for manufacturers and regulators to resolve. The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), which has been working closely with key security system manufacturers, is confident that by the end of 2009 a range of viable aviation security equipment will be available and ready for deployment, including equipment that will comply very closely with US Transport Security Administration's (TSA) standards.
The technical preparation work for the change is being carried out by ECAC, under the guidance of the European Commission, with significant involvement by the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. They have grouped security systems into four categories, A to D. While equipment categories B and C are considered most suitable for immediate deployment, all have been designed with the same ultimate goal of allowing airport security to return to screening as it had been prior to the discovery of the airliner bomb plot.
The categories are as follows:
A = Dip strip type detection
B = Individual bottle scanners – using ramen spectroscopy or trace among others
C = Automated detection of liquids in bags and automatic classification of multiple liquid explosive threats outside of bags (in trays) – using advanced x-ray baggage scanning systems
D = Automated detection of multiple liquid explosive threats inside bags – possibly CT or advanced x-ray scanning systems – still under development.
The EU is expected to mandate the use of one or more of these categories of equipment at European airports. The unavailability and general impracticality of type 'D' equipment has so far led regulators to focus their efforts on type 'C' equipment for primary screening at medium to large airports, with at least one additional equipment type for secondary alarm resolution. With advanced cabin x-ray security systems already in place at some airports worldwide, the need to install new equipment would not be necessary as these airports would only need to upload new algorithms onto existing systems.
While some airports have voiced support for type 'D' systems as their favoured option, because of its potential operational advantages, there are many unknowns about its actual performance and whether it can indeed detect suspicious liquids at an acceptable false alarm rate. With major investments being made by technology manufacturers, passengers could see such security systems in airports in approximately three to five years time.
The future
Had the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot not been foiled the consequences could have been catastrophic. Its discovery had a profound effect on both airlines and airports worldwide, with Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary claiming that the chaos at UK airports meant the terrorists were achieving their aims and then announcing plans to sue the British Government over the disruption to Ryanair's business.
Regulators, manufacturers and the aviation industry are working hard to formulate a viable solution to help ease the restrictions placed on airline passengers and with next generation of technology coming online, airport security will always be able to keep one step a head of international threat of terrorism while also helping to minimise the impact on the airline passenger.
