Helping Keep The Homeland Secure Through Cargo Screening Training

Posted by Nathan Webster

July 27, 2010

by Olivia Christian

Terrorism is now as much a part of our lives, as little as we like it, as murder and other violent crimes. As a society, we have a tendency to treat them the same way as well. We are aware of it, we acknowledge it and as much as we possibly can, we ignore it. But when it comes to transportation, specifically air transportation, we as a nation are fastidious in our efforts to prevent it. We expect and tolerate personnel to check and recheck our person for anything dangerous, and we rely on largely unseen professionals with cargo screening training to examine our personal baggage.

The myriad tasks that lead up to an aircraft taking to the skies with a happy load of passengers is actually quite complicated and involved. Add the restriction of having to make all this preparation and planning come together for each aircraft with minimal ground time and you have a serious challenge. Further, the security specialists are forever having to catch up to the latest creative methodology fro stowing hazardous material aboard a plane without overly burdening the customers with inspections.

There are certainly some new steps that have been added for our mutual protection, such as ensuring that the individuals who checked baggage are actually on a plane before its departure. There are also locations where baggage is subject to penetration examination before it is allowed to be loaded onto an aircraft, but these are the exceptions. For the determined individual or funded group, getting dangerous material aboard an airline is far from prohibitive.

While it is certainly not the easiest means nor the least expensive, terrorist are aware of the increased impact aircraft terrorist acts have on populations, and therefore it is a much preferred method of operation. Preventing such an event might seem like a simple process, after all, the aircraft can only hold so much and, unlike a ship or land based vessel, is afforded much more security.

Thus the airlines are restricted to a rudimentary check, if any, for the containers with the greatest access to the aircraft. Certainly people enter the aircraft, and we have devised careful means of checking for dangerous material being carried onto the airplane by the passengers. While it is still not foolproof, it is effective against most problematic possibilities. But the luggage and other cargo that is loaded into the aircraft is significantly more difficult to process.

Cargo presents a whole different challenge as it can not move on its own, and there is much more of it than there are passengers. This includes cargo moved under contract from private entities, US Mail, and, of course, passenger baggage. Some of this cargo may arrive at the terminal wit barely enough time to get it safely and securely aboard the aircraft, keeping in mind that an airplane not only has overall weight restrictions, but balance to consider as well.

Aircraft do not begin their day at every departure point, the limited number of aircraft versus the number of flights each airline provides requires the aircraft arrive, deplane reload and takeoff again in a near constant cycle. These extremely expensive vessels make no money when they are on the ground. Thus our safety in the air is inextricably ties to sound personnel and cargo screening training for airline employees and transportation agents.

cargo screening training

About the Author:

Looking to find the definitive source of information on cargo screening training?

news