In my opinion, one of the most significant non-UAV dangers to general aviation is smuggling. Due to the lack of regulation and screening procedures, general aviation airports may be used to smuggle weapons, explosives, drugs, and even people (LaBrecque, 2017). It is a serious threat to general aviation security. In another work, Harney (2017) writes that “[t]he air domain, […], is enormous and hard to control” (p. 66) when describing the smuggling problem. Finally, Forrest and Price (2016) also mention that “the use of general aviation aircraft for the transportation of drugs is well known” (p. 60). Therefore, the smuggling problem is a rather pressing issue for general aviation and a threat to its’ security. Appropriate measures should be taken to address the security aspects that make this threat possible, for example, the lack of screening procedures.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, have become increasingly widespread in recent years. They are also expected to continue developing in the future, according to Fuhrmann and Horowitz (2017), so it is an important topic to discuss. UAVs may become helpful by improving security, intelligence gathering, and so on (Forrest and Price, 2016). However, the development of UAVs is also connected to many security issues. For example, they can be armed or used to gather information in unlawful ways (Forrest and Price, 2016). Besides, UAVs may present a threat to people in case of malfunction (Stöcker et al., 2017). In my opinion, the main threat presented by UAVs is the possibility of arming either with a gun, a chemical, or a biological weapon. Such UAVs would present a great danger to the public, so necessary regulations must be implemented to prevent this kind of attack.
In my opinion, one of the most important practices of the National Business Aviation Association is the one regarding passenger policy. Many dangers on the flight are connected to the passengers, but thorough screening procedures help to reduce the risks. The presentation mentions that passenger strategy includes confirming identities, being alert for problematic passengers, and so on. In their work, Stewart and Mueller (2017) also notice that precheck in airports considerably reduces the risk of an attack. Furthermore, Forrest and Price (2016) also talk about the importance of passenger and luggage screening. Another reason why it is essential to pay attention to the passengers is the increased rate of unruly behavior in the last years (Abeyratne, 2019). Therefore, it is important to identify every passenger and ensure they do not threaten others. Being aware of the dangers a passenger may present for the people in both the airport and the airplane and having an opportunity to remove that passenger if necessary reduces security concerns.
While general aviation includes all non-paid civil flights, such as medical transportation, agricultural aviation, and others, commercial aviation refers to paid flights, such as airlines, hired planes, and so on. Several differences between their security procedures seem to make commercial aviation safer. In their book, Cusick et al. (2017) express their concern about high screening costs in commercial aviation but note that higher costs increase safety. This is mostly due to newer technologies and a more thorough screening compared to general aviation (Cusick et al., 2017). Furthermore, LaBrecque (2017) also talks about the lack of security measures in general aviation airports, which seems to be the biggest security exposure of this aviation branch. One of the differences between general and commercial aviation in-flight is that every commercial aircraft has an identified safe area if a bomb is found on-board to reduce the effect of an explosion (Forrest and Price, 2016). Therefore, general aviation faces certain security risks that should be properly addressed.
References
Abeyratne, R. (2019). The unruly passenger. In Legal priorities in air transport (pp. 99-109). Springer.
Cusick, S. K., Cortes, A. I., & Rodrigues, C. C. (2017). Commercial aviation safety. McGraw-Hill Education.
Forrest, J., & Price, J. (2016). Practical aviation security: predicting and preventing future threats. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Fuhrmann, M., & Horowitz, M. C. (2017). Droning on: Explaining the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles. International organization, 71(2), 397-418.
Harney, S. M. (2017). By land, sea, or air? A comparative analysis of cartel smuggling strategies. Naval Postgraduate School.
LaBrecque, B. (2017). Terrorism and General Aviation. The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology, 9(2), 6.
Stewart, M. G., & Mueller, J. (2017). Are We Safe Enough?: Measuring and Assessing Aviation Security. Elsevier.
Stöcker, C., Bennett, R., Nex, F., Gerke, M., & Zevenbergen, J. (2017). Review of the current state of UAV regulations. Remote sensing, 9(5), 459.