Common sense

Kia Ora,

Well it seems common sense or more likely commercial sense returned to US air traffic today. Relaxation of some rules leaving them in discretion of aircraft captain. Hopefully they will exercise them sensibly.

They would be beter off deploying more 'low key' air marshals to look for the suspicious. Problem is Air Marshals are so easy to spot or have being. Personally I loved the story by a former air marshal where they were all dressed the same were seated in the same seats each flight & then let board early in front of the rest of passengers & finally had a conference where they arrived to huge neon signs saying welcome US airmarshals.

Good security does not mean doing it by the book. Anyone who has watched the first diehard movie will remember where the 'terrorists' were going to get the vault open because the FBI would do it 'by the book'. We seen the same in Iraq. At times US state department contractors were getting hit because they were carrying the drills out as per state department handbook.

In fact on one occassion we drove through an ambush unbeknowst to us, but a state department team were hit 600 metres behind us. Why obviously the spotter had seen two security teams but one was obviously US state department because drills were by the book.

That is high end security but the same practices work at all levels including a personal level.

For security it is important to remember that SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) are only ever a guide line. Laws, Rules & Regulations need to be adhered too, but SOP's are based on experience & do not fit every situation.