Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
get flying a 727. A bigger plane tends to treat you more gently in this
regard. David, his wife, and Ilan's wife are not big fans of flying. They do
it because it is necessary to travel. It is somewhat comforting, however, to
be flying on a plane with four engines instead of two. These days, flying
on a wide-bodied jet has an added benefit that might come as a surprise.
Hijackers tend to avoid targeting wide-bodied planes because of the tac-
tical problem of covering that many passengers and three rows of seating
instead of two. Ilan, who has experience as a security officer on board El
Al planes, certainly agrees with that assessment. Flying a wider plane gives
you a smaller chance of getting caught in a hijacking. We'll discuss the risk
of becoming a victim of hijacking or being taken hostage in greater detail
later on.
The authors try to fly El Al whenever possible because it is one airline
that you can be sure takes security seriously. Other carriers have not yet
caught up to the impressive security considerations of the Israeli national
airline, but some are trying to. At the current time, no other airlines equip
their passenger planes with the type of protective equipment that El Al
does. Its planes have had a virtually impregnable access system to the
cockpit for many years. Another little-known fact is that El Al planes also
are equipped with countermeasures to protect against a missile attack.
While other airlines are upgrading their planes to copy the Israeli cock-
pit access system, to date no one is equipping planes with missile defense
systems.
AIRLINE SAFETY TIPS
Try to schedule direct flights if possible. Besides the fact that direct flights
are more convenient, there are two security-related reasons for this prac-
tice. The first is the fact that most airline accidents occur during takeoff
and landing. It therefore stands to reason that if your flight is not making
many of these takeoffs and landings, you have a statistically lower chance
of being in an accident. The second is to minimize the risk of being
involved in a hijacking. Despite the success that the September 11 hijack-
ers enjoyed while commandeering American planes flying out of domes-
tic airports, the usual points of infiltration by hijackers are the less secure
airports at which many connecting flights must stop. Terrorist hijackers
are well aware of which airports they can operate in and which they cannot.
If you must take a connecting flight, make sure you are not transferring
