Summary

In the years preceding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States lacked a comprehensive national policy and strategy for aviation security. The United States approach to aviation security had largely been shaped by past events such as the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December, 1988. This book explores the national aviation security policy established by the President. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed a publicly-available national strategy for aviation security that addresses threats to aviation using a risk-based methodology to complement the overarching National infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) and seeks to deter and prevent terrorist attacks against aviation, mitigate damage and expedite recovery and minimise the impact of an attack to the aviation system. The strategy seeks to achieve these objectives by engaging domestic and international partners and carrying out specific actions set forth in a series of supporting plans for operational security, surveillance and intelligence, threat response, system recovery, and co-ordination.