iscover
The September 11 attacks caused “the single largest structural change to civil aviation in its history”, an expert has said as the world marks the 25th anniversary of the disaster.
RMIT Aviation Academy’s Justin Brownjohn said the 2001 terrorist attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people, sparked the “most significant overhaul of aviation security” in modern times, including heightened protections at airports and on board aircraft.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
“The industry was rebuilt from the ground up around new assumptions about who and what might be on board, and why,” said Brownjohn.
“It is worth remembering how differently aviation operated before. Families walked to the gate, identity checks were cursory, and screening was a formality rather than a system. Almost none of that survives today, and passengers under thirty have no memory of it.
“While the most visible changes are at the airport, the most consequential one is the door that turned the cockpit from once a part of the aircraft into a separate secure zone.
“Every security procedure written since revolved around controlling the entrance to that door: opening procedures, door codes, crew clearances, and monitoring before opening.”
Brownjohn also pointed to a “smaller and rarely discussed” impact within the profession itself – the end of the practice of inviting children onto the flight deck while en-route, which had been the catalyst for many later aviation careers.
“A generation of pilots and aviation workers trace their career beginnings to being invited onto the flight deck as a child – the captain turning around, the instruments, the wings pinned on afterwards. That door is now closed, permanently, and doubly secure,” he said.
“The US Federal Aviation Administration has just mandated that all newly delivered aircraft to US carriers must have two locked flight deck doors to ensure security while a pilot uses the washroom.
“Regulators in Australia are yet to move, but given our general alignment with global aviation safety protocols, there’s an argument to be made that Australia could mandate the same in the future.”
Memorial services are being held in New York City, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other sites around the world to commemorate 25 years since the terrorist attacks, the deadliest in human history, which saw two 767s flown deliberately into the World Trade Center by al-Qaeda hijackers.
A 757 was also flown into the Pentagon, while another 757 – intended to hit the United States Capitol Building – was brought down in a field after passengers stormed the cockpit in an attempt to overpower the terrorists.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
