OIG Report Concludes GA Terrorism Threat Minimal

In a report released this May, the US Office of Inspector General (OIG) says that general aviation presents only limited (and mostly hypothetical) threats to security due to specific attributes that terrorists find unattractive in GA aircraft, such as their small size, lack of fuel capacity and minimal destructive power.

The report was requested by U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee following publicity over a television segment in which a Houston TV crew was able to access three GA airports and approach aircraft without objection from security.

According to the OIG’s report, the reporters were unaware of some “passive security and monitoring measures”. For example, the airports had introduced security procedures including 24-hour video surveillance, locking or disabling grounded planes, and controlling fuel access; the television reporters did not test these processes.

As well as investigating the three airports included in the TV segment, the OIG also looked at airports in the Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC, areas. In each case, no serious security risks were found at airports primarily serving general aviation in those regions.

General aviation accounts for 77% of all flights in the United States and includes the vast air cargo transport sector, corporate aviation, air medical-ambulance operations, flight schools, and privately owned aircraft.

The report also determines that the steps general aviation airport owners and managers have taken to improve security are both “positive and effective”. AOPA’s President, Craig Fuller, says the OIG’s findings corroborate his and other groups’ views on the state of GA security but added that this does not mean GA can let its guard down. “The report notes that while the threat is minimal, it is not non-existent and that constant vigilance must be maintained, which is why AOPA coordinated with the TSA to develop and implement the Airport Watch programme,” Fuller said.