Beyond Risk:
mitigation strategies for threats
against civil aviation
Surveys, audits, reviews,
assessments, call them what D
omestic civil aviation infrastructure identify airport-specific vulnerabilities and
has undergone a continuous series to suggest strategies to mitigate these
of security assessments of varying weaknesses. The results, self-contained
you will, are supposed to types over the past several decades.
and devoid of any purpose beyond stating
identify vulnerabilities. The
Continual in this sense, means often, not to the obvious, tend to result in assessed
question is whether they are
be confused with a process-based airports throwing money (or not) at the
stand-alone reviews and tick-
continuum. In fact, little effort has been identified vulnerability (-ies), after which the
box exercises or part of a
devoted to process in this context; each written assessment product quickly
consistent local, national or
assessment
1
has been accomplished as a becomes obsolete and ignored until the
discrete product. In the United States, many next round of assessments.
international programme
of these efforts were managed through the The challenge is to focus back from
designed to mitigate the real
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office airports and air carriers to larger issues:
threat to which the aviation
of Civil Aviation Security; others by airports How unique are airports and is it even
industry is exposed. Bob Raffel
themselves, sometimes pursuant to FAA worthwhile to conduct individual
argues that airport assess- mandate. Many were accomplished assessments of them? What is the threat?
ments have not been very through contractors; some were done by
Has it changed? Finally, and to the point: do
utilitarian and suggests that the
FAA security personnel and/or airport continual assessments and reassessments
assessments and resulting data
employees. Some airports were assessed of domestic airports without process-driven
need to be blended into a
several times; others less so or not at all. results accomplish even their stated aims,
process-based risk assessment,
The lack of an over-arching process with however limited?
focused not on individual
clearly defined end states precluded any
real consistency, and hence any strategic DISCUSSION
airports, but rather on holistic
utility, to most of these efforts. There is a maxim in the civil aviation
mitigation strategies to identify,
However lacking in strategic deliverables, community, which is being used more
meet and counter changing
the utility of such assessments have frequently: “You’ve seen one airport, you’ve
threats.
historically been viewed as a means to only seen one airport.” The meaning of this,
18 www.asi-mag.com February 2007 Aviationsecurityinternational
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