Security steps jacked up for private flights departing from and arriving in US

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking steps to strengthen security vis-à-vis general aviation (GA) “to minimise further the vulnerability of GA aircraft flights being used to deliver illicit materials, transport dangerous individuals or employ aircraft as a weapon.”

Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that the department would require additional security information for all general aviation, including private aircraft, for international flights departing from and arriving into the United States.

The new security measures, which already exist for all commercial aircraft, will require manifest data of all people (passengers and crew) on board private aircraft 60 minutes prior to departure of the aircraft, including flights originating overseas, Michael Chertoff said, describing private aircraft as “the last major vulnerability for bringing a weapon of mass destruction into the US.”

The new security steps, which will be come into effect in about a month after it is published in the Federal Register, require general-aviation pilots to submit the names and other information about every person on board a flight to the United States. The intention is to prevent terrorists from using a private plane to smuggle a bomb or nuclear weapon into the United States and detonating the weapon over a major city.

The requirement that information about every person on board a flight be sent one hour before takeoff gives officials more time to screen passengers and crew against intelligence databases that list suspected terrorists, Michael Chertoff said.

According to the DHS, the following information must be sent one hour prior to departure for flights arriving into or departing from the United States by filing manifest data through eAPIS or an approved alternative system:

* Advance notice of arrival information.
* Advance notice of departure information.
* Aircraft information to foster aircraft identification.
* Complete passenger and crew manifest data.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), commonly known in the United States as Homeland Security, is a Cabinet department of the United States federal government with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the United States from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters. Whereas the Department of Defence is charged with military actions abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its stated goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.

In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank on foreign policy based in Washington, D.C., Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff elaborated:  “Private aircraft have not undergone the intense screening given to United States-bound cargo flights and commercial flights, leaving general aviation flights vulnerable. I want to make these investments now even though the threat is not imminent. We are placing considerable emphasis on raising security in the general-aviation sector.”

Meanwhile, on November 17, 2008, Chertoff signed an agreement with Ireland under which commercial flights and private passenger flights to the United States from Shannon Airport and Dublin Airport in Ireland can receive full pre-clearance screening before departure, streamlining passenger entry into the United States.

In a press release, the US Department of Homeland Security said airline passengers who have undergone the pre-clearance screening can have their checked luggage automatically transferred to domestic or international connecting flights.

Private aircraft flying through Ireland will be able to use the pre-clearance procedures to any airport in the United States without having to stop at a pre-designated airport customs clearance.

The pre-screening operations are expected to start at Shannon Airport in 2009 and at Dublin Airport in 2010, the US Department of Homeland Security said.