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Category Archives: Safety and Security

Passenger screening will remain at smaller airports

Veiligheidscontrole Flight attendant: “The air marshal asked me if we could hang out during the layover. No one will have to find out. It is not like your husband is here.” Numerous media copied the news CNN published on August 1, 2018. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would be considering to eliminate passenger screening at more than 150 small and medium sized airfields across the USA, which is approximately ⅓ of all US airports. However, this seems one of the extremely rare cases in which CNN...
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Safety and Security
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Panic at the emergency exit

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates air transportation of pets and requires airlines to follow the guidelines. For example, animals must be transported in pet carriers big enough to allow the animal to stand, turn around and lie down comfortably. As there are no such regulations for human beings, their well-being seems less important than that of animals. Flyers Rights, a passenger advocacy group tried to change this in 2015 by filing a petition asking the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to promulgate...
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News, Safety and Security
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EU blacklist safeguards your rights

The number of airlines fully banned from European Union skies has plummeted to 120 from 181 in December 2017. This appears from the updated blacklist (officially: EU Air Safety List) of banned airlines that the European Commission publishes every half year. All of them are based in African and Asian countries with 4 exceptions: Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Iraqi Airways (Iraq), Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname) and Avior Airlines (Venezuela). For 114 carriers the EU ban...
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Safety and Security
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Chemical weapons onboard aircraft?

The confusion the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) caused in 2017 about personal electronic devices (PEDs) in the cabin gives rise to an awareness campaign that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will launch in July. The ban on larger PEDs like laptops in the cabin that the FAA implemented in 2017 made flying more dangerous. Passengers were instructed to put larger PEDs in their checked luggage. According to the FAA it was a safety measure even though it increased the risk of fires in planes. A...
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Will Russia ever take responsibility for downing MH17?

The Dutch and Australian governments took a bold and unusual step on May 25, 2018. One day after the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) presented its report of a criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, the 2 governments said to hold Russia responsible for the murder of the 298 people on board MH17. The 2 countries demand not only that Russia will take its responsibility, but also that it will cooperate in finding the truth and justice. So far, however, Russia has done everything to deny any...
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MH17, Safety and Security
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The BUK missile came from Kursk

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 presented on May 24, 2018 an update of the state of play in its criminal investigation. The JIT concludes that the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk, Russia. The conclusions are based on extensive comparative research including images of the BUK-TELAR. They are available because it was recorded several times when it joined a convoy on June...
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MH17, Safety and Security
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