The hobbyists known as plane spotters are helping to keep a watchful eye on Heathrow Airport.
U.K.-based LAAS International, one of the world's largest aviation enthusiast clubs, has an arrangement with the British Airport Authority (BAA) and London's Metropolitan Police Service to encourage enthusiasts to report suspicious activity around the airport.Plane spotting got its start in the United Kingdom around the outbreak of World War II, when the British government asked citizens to spend their nights in dugouts looking for enemy aircraft, says David Seex, chairman of LAAS International. After the war ended, watching aircraft remained a hobby. But raised security awareness after 9/11 made airport authorities leery of letting people hang out on the perimeters of airports. Sensing a major blow to his members' pursuits, Seex wrote to the Metropolitan Police with an idea: Rather than outlaw plane spotters, why not enlist them in the war against terrorism? "At any one time, there are usually more aviation enthusiasts around an airport perimeter than police," he says.
The police, as well as the BAA, liked the idea and worked out the agreement with LAAS that commenced earlier this year.
This might seem merely quaint, but Heathrow has been considered a high-risk target for some time. Just this week, for example:
Eight men arrested in anti- terror raids were expected to appear in court today charged with conspiring to commit murder and launch radioactive or chemical attacks on Britain. They are also charged with planning to use radioactive materials, chemicals, toxic gases or conventional explosives in an attack.Their arrests two weeks ago followed intelligence from Pakistan and sparked fears of an attack at Heathrow, although the airport was not specifically mentioned in the charges.
Last year, soldiers ringed the airport when a plot was suspected.
Ever since two suspected al-Qaida terrorists fired two shoulder launched missiles at an Israeli passenger jet as it took off from Mombasa airport in November, the international airline industry has been bracing itself for the next attempt to bring down an airliner.But last night, as hundreds of troops continued to search Heathrow airport and along its flight paths in response to a specific and credible threat, aviation security experts warned that even with this concentration of manpower there was little that could be done to prevent attacks being mounted from outside the perimeter fence.
"Mombasa put the fear of God into the airline security community," said Chris Yates, aviation security editor at Jane's Tranport. "Ever since they have been asking how the hell they can protect aircraft during take-off and landing. The short answer is they can't."
Experts said Heathrow was an extremely tempting target for terrorists. Not only is it the world's busiest airport, it also has a massive perimiter area which makes it more difficult to secure. There are thousands of cars in its car parks at any one time, and it is bordered by woodland and open ground. "It is always going to be near the top of the terrorists' fantasy hit list," said Mr Yates.
So, keep spotting, folks. The police can use all the help they can get.
Posted by Alan at August 18, 2004 05:30 PM