‘Terrorism’ is a word that we read regularly in the newspaper these days, but air terrorism was there since aviation started. Since 1968, when an El Al flight was taken over by terrorists, hijacking was a regular returning occurrence and the most spectacular ones are described in detail in this book.
But hijacking is only one method of air terrorism. Cyberattacks, missiles fired at airliners, bombs (IED) placed on board, taking over the controls of an airplane by hacking the onboard computers these are all methods were terrorism is trying to disrupt our aviation systems. The author is giving us insight in the history of air terrorism, their motives and all the methods I just mentioned. But that is not all! Attacking the airports by cyberattacks and weapon assaults killing waiting passengers and disrupting air traffic systems and air traffic. Terrorists are seeking constantly for new ways.
In the end governments and aviation security organisations are taking up the battle by constant seeking for counter measures to minimise the economic damage and human tragedies that are result of these attacks. In the first part of this book the author digs deeply into the motives, backgrounds and people involved in the in terrorist attacks that took place in the years that aviation developed into a worldwide popular way of transport resulting in thousands of casualties.
The second part of the book is even more intriguing. In this part a couple of known but controversial air tragedies are spotlighted such as the TWA flight 800 that crashed near Long Island, the two Russian airliners that crashed nearly at the same time over Russian territory ( The Black Widow Attacks), the air disaster the Pan Am 747 flight 103 known as the Lockerbie crash that went down by a bomb explosion over Scotland but most known the 9/11 Attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.
In all these cases the influence of the government and the governmental organisations that investigated cause and perpetrators resulted in dubious conclusions and proven theories were thrown overboard despite the technical and physical evidence showing otherwise. Apparently they wanted to hide the real cause or reason for the public at all costs. Really fascinating stories!
This book is interesting for safety managers working in positions in the public transport and especially the aviation and for everyone who are drawn into discussions about dubious behaviour of their government and when these crashes are part of the discussion. I was certainly deeply drawn into this matter. It deeply graves into the moving elements behind the air terrorism and the often negative influence of the governmental organisations involved. Good value for money. Also perfect stuff for policy advisors on Crisis & Disaster Management at airports! 😉
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