The 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers were a turning point in commercial aviation. For those with a fear of flying and anyone alive during that time, you will remember what you were doing that day.
Since then, there have been huge changes to commercial aviation to keep us even safer. Some of those changes, we will cover in this blog but, only some as there have too many to mention...
As with any incident that occurs in commercial aviation, we learn from it. We learn from it so as to prevent it happening again. We will tell you about a few changes that are in place and these are the main changes you will find most helpful.
Before the attack:
- You could pay cash for a ticket
- You could visit the flight deck during your flight to talk to the pilots (with supervision)
- You could get on an internal flight in the US with minimum checking or security, like getting on a train (*This was not true for everywhere but the terrorists were well researched)
- Commercial aviation was extremely safe and nothing like this had happened before (there had been hijackings but nobody had done this before)
After the attack:(just a sample)
- You cannot pay cash for a ticket - there has to be a traceable path back to you
- There is a security process in place from the moment anyone buys a ticket
- There is significantly more intelligence screening and passenger profiling
- There are more procedures and checks in place in all airports - some you can see and many you cannot
- You cannot visit the flight deck ever again, whilst in the air. Some airlines will let you say hello and goodbye to the pilots after you have landed
- There are cameras and sealed flight deck doors now. You will not get into the flight deck during a flight.
Some fear of flying questions and answers:
Q. What if a terrorist takes a member of cabin crew hostage and forces them to use their code to open the flight deck door?
A. A terrorist could take a cabin crew person hostage. They could force them to use a code to try and gain access. However, the pilot/s within the flight deck have to allow access even when the code is pressed. They have cameras to check before they do so. There are air marshals that travel on flights - how many and where they are, is classified information. Lastly, the landscape has changed. Before the 9/11 attacks, the act of someone taking over the aircraft and flying it into a building was not an idea conceived by the normal general public. If you were sat on a flight and saw terrorists try to take over, how many people would react differently now?
Q. What about when the pilots need to use the toilet?
A. This scenario and many others for that matter, have been considered. A full investigation that followed 9/11 spotted many areas of potential risk. So, there are procedures and processes in place for this to keep us all safe and to manage those risk areas. Cannot say much more about this.
Q. Could something like this ever happen again?
A. There is no way you can categorically say it could never happen again. However, due to all the changes that have occurred, much, much more than I have mentioned, it is extremely, extremely unlikely. Cannot say impossible but not far off. One of the terrorist goals is to create maximum disruption and fear. This can be achieved in lots of easier ways than trying to take over an aircraft - commercial aviation is still not a soft target.
Conclusions
The determined actions of a well organised few have changed commercial aviation forever. Young girls and boys, wanting to become pilots, will not be able to visit the 'place of work' en route to their holidays anymore. The pilots (most of them) really enjoyed flight deck visits and chatting to the travelling public. The cabin crew have had to change the way that they work now and it has taken some of the fun away for them too. But, this keeps us safer from someone trying this appalling act ever again. Please remember, the terrorists that pulled off 9/11 were extremely well researched, prepared and spent years planning this attack - they did not just wake up one day and have a go. Commercial aviation is a business but, it is always safety first. Something happens, we learn from it to prevent it happening again the same way.
A very sensitive subject matter - we hope that we have shone a light on this in a pragmatic and helpful way...
Take care,
The team at Lovefly®
For more fear of flying help:
- We have lots of blogs you can read
- We are recording podcasts regularly on helpful topics for the nervous flyer. Search 'Lovefly' on Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts
- We have and will run webinars around fear of flying areas people want to know about and more information is on our website www.lovefly.co.uk
- Audiobook written and narrated by Paul Tizzard available on Audible and most places you get your audio books from 'Helping You to Overcome Fear of Flying' (released this year)
No comments:
Post a Comment