Heading into the New Year's holiday with terror threats high, government officials said on Monday they will require selected international flights that cross into US airspace to carry an armed law-enforcement officer aboard to stave off any attempt to hijack the plane.
The Homeland Security Department will require such officers on flights where intelligence information leads to a specific concern about that airplane, department spokesman Dennis Murphy said.
"We will then notify the carrier that, based on information we received, we require a law enforcement officer to be on the plane,"Murphy said.
The directive announced on Monday says that armed government officers from the country of the airline's ownership must be aboard, and says they must be equipped to prevent anyone from reaching the plane's cockpit and must be equipped to communicate with the crew, Murphy said.
For months, US security officials have feared that al-Qaeda operatives will again hijack planes to use them as missiles. The most recent concerns center not on domestic passenger flights, but on airliners or cargo planes that take off from overseas and cross over US airspace, either on their way to a US airport or to a foreign one.
The Bush administration raised the terrorism alert level to orange, or high, on Dec. 21 and Air France canceled six flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday last week, after security discussions between US and French officials.
Murphy said US officials provided information to France about some of the passengers on the flights, prompting French officials to order their cancellation. Murphy said he was uncertain whether the US government sought the cancellation of those flights.
Homeland Security reviews the passenger and crew manifests of all planes bound for US airspace, generally after the plane has taken off, because passenger lists are usually finalized only minutes before the plane taxis from the gate, Murphy said. Some passenger lists are reviewed beforehand, he said.
Homeland Security officials said the new directive, which is effective immediately, will further enhance security on commercial and cargo aircraft flying to, from and over the US.
"We are asking international air carriers to take this protective action as part of our ongoing effort to make air travel safe for Americans and visitors alike," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a statement.
"I have said that we will take specific steps to increase security whenever necessary, and with this action we are doing just that," he added.
The directive comes in the form of three emergency amendments to air-security regulations involving cargo planes, passenger planes and airliners passing over US airspace. Any plane not complying with a request for a security presence could be denied access to US airspace.
A State Department spokesman said on Monday that foreign countries have been receptive to the new US directive.
Britain said on Sunday it had tightened security for trans-Atlantic flights and suggested it might put armed sky marshals on some planes. The US already places armed security officers on certain flights.
"The last few days have seen the United States increase their general threat and security levels, and what we are proposing is a proportionate and appropriate level of response at a time when the threat to both our countries and around the world remains real and serious," said Britain's top law enforcement official, David Blunkett.
In Germany, Lufthansa spokesman Thomas Jachnow said that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Lufthansa had begun carrying "sky marshals" on some of its passenger flights to the US.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
Separatists in Alberta are preparing to submit a petition tomorrow that they said has enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for the oil-rich Canadian province. Polls indicate the pro-independence camp remains a minority among Alberta’s 5 million people, but has hit a historic high of roughly 30 percent. Alberta separatists are also closer than ever to forcing a referendum, riding momentum fueled by intensifying grievances over Ottawa’s control of the provincial oil industry. They have also undeniably gotten a boost from the return to power of US President Donald Trump. After launching a petition in January, Stay Free Alberta, the group
RSS