US OFFICIALS: Terrorist Threat to Commercial Airplanes

Friday, November 7, 2003

Press Trust of India

The officials said TSA expects to select two private sector proposals on MANPAD countermeasures in 2004 and test the one or two most promising prototypes later.

WASHINGTON -- PTI
Terrorists will continue to target commercial airplanes in the United States and abroad, US officials have said, identifying the shoulder-launched missiles as the new threat.

Called the Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS), the missiles are "widely" available in black or grey markets around the world and their reaching into the hands of terrorists was a cause of "credible concern", Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials in the Department of Homeland Security said in a testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Wednesday.

Even an unsuccessful MANPAD attack on a commercial airliner would have a "devastating" economic and political impact. "This is a serious and complex issue with no single solution," the officials said briefing the committee on the steps the TSA is taking to employ to boost aviation security and counter new threats.

(More: The Hindustan Times)

2003 © Press Trust of India.

Dan