Air cargo security still weak

A recent press report highlights the continuing weak security surrounding cargo loaded in the belly holds of commercial airliners, an issue that has been causing concern for a few years now. In a report for the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., Ron Marsico quotes Tom Kean Sr., the former New Jersey governor who chaired the 9/11 Commission, as saying that “air cargo is obviously a real problem and ought to be addressed.” Most of the cargo is inspected – if at all – by private operators, Kean says.

Almost 6 billion pounds of the total 23 billion pounds shipped by air in 2004 was loaded in the holds of commercial airliners, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The Star-Ledger story quotes a TSA spokesperson as admitting there’s a problem, but that the technology doesn’t yet exist that would allow the scanning of 100 percent of air cargo without choking trade.

The recent airing of concern was prompted by the aviation security scare in the U.K., although in the case of air cargo the threat is more likely to be plastic or powder explosives, not liquid or gel ones.