Sivile fly og MANPADS

MANPADS: Man Portable Air Defence System
Jeg har tidligere hatt en oversikt på bloggen over typer som er på markedet og skudd mot sivile fly. Den saken som følger er helt fersk.

Flight Safety Information
Flight Safety Information  August 8, 2014  -  No. 163 In This Issue Airlines fret about missiles, but experts see little risk Air Algerie Crash Examiners Says Jet Disintegrated on Impact Pilot pay at flag carrier to soar by 360m yuan (China) No Unmanned Flights 'Anytime Soon,' FAA Assures Pilots How to Hack an Airplane's Satellite Communications System PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA After Losing 2 Passenger Jets, Malaysia Airlines Suspends Trading And Plans To Become State-Owned Flight Safety Foundation to hold annual safety summit in Abu Dhabi ISASI 2014 - Annual Seminar, October 13-16, 2014 Upcoming Events
Airlines fret about missiles, but experts see little risk WASHINGTON -- Because of conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, airlines and regulators are growing worried about military weapons capable of shooting down planes falling into hands of people outside government control. But an expert on military hardware dismissed as minimal the threat from surface-to-air missiles in the hands of terrorists because of the sophistication and cost of weapons that can hit a plane cruising more than 30,000 feet above the ground. The aviation industry is grappling with the threat after a Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down July 17 over Ukraine with 298 people aboard. U.S. intelligence sources say a missile brought down the plane and puncture marks in the fuselage suggest the weapon was a Russian-made SA-11. Pro-Russia separatists are fighting the Ukraine government in the area, worrying airline industry officials that powerful anti-aircraft weapons are in the hands of separatists not affiliated with a government. "The threat is posed by both state and non-state actors, which could employ these capabilities," Claudio Manno, the Federal Aviation Administration's assistant administrator for security and hazardous materials safety, told a conference Thursday of the Air Line Pilots Association. Airlines also suspended flights to Israel on July 22, when a rocket fell about a mile from the airport in Tel Aviv during the conflict with Palestinians in Gaza. FAA prohibited U.S. flights there for 36 hours. "This is a concern that is really emerging now," Manno said. "It's a different dynamic than what we've had to deal with in the past." The shoot-down in Ukraine spurred the International Air Transport Association, which represents 240 airlines worldwide, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations that recommends policies, to call for governments to better manage the deployment of anti-aircraft weapons. Such conventions are already in place for chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, said Tony Tyler, CEO of the airline group. "Civil aircraft are instruments of peace and should never be the target of weapons of war," Tyler said. The Malaysia incident "demonstrated that powerful and sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry is in the hands of non-state entities." But John Pike, executive director of GlobalSecurity.org, said the systems are so expensive and difficult to operate that only about 50 nations have the capability to fire them, and independent militants couldn't manage it. These systems include sophisticated missiles, radar to track planes and highly trained crews to identify targets and fire the weapons. A single system such as the SA-11 usually consists of several trucks. Crews train for more than a year to operate the U.S. military's Patriot missile system, which can knock down advanced aircraft and missiles, Pike said. "Not every country with a flag is up to it," Pike said. "You have to be a government - a real government - to run one. A radar-guided system is about the most complicated piece of (equipment) that ground forces operate." Despite the difficulty of hitting planes at cruising altitudes of 30,000 feet or higher, portable or shoulder-fired weapons can hit planes closer to the ground when they are landing or taking off. That was the threat in Tel Aviv. The FAA routinely issues warnings to airlines to fly at least certain heights above the ground over conflict zones such as Iraq. Manno said the FAA has issued, reviewed or updated six special regulations and 10 warnings to pilots during the last year. "The nature of the threat, as we've seen in previous years, continues to evolve," Manno said. "We must be nimble accordingly." Concerns about Israel reflected the speed at which threats move. A Delta Air Lines flight July 22 from New York diverted to Paris rather than risk landing in Tel Aviv, and other airlines suspended flights before the FAA ban went into effect. "Airlines are now often acting quicker than the government agencies are, simply because in the private industry we have the ability to do that," said Randy Harrison, Delta's managing director of corporate security, who added that he has no complaints about the government. While the threat from shoulder-fired missiles is higher, Pike said those missiles haven't proven to be the worry many have forecast. For now, rest easy in coach, if you can, Pike said. A surface-to-air missile isn't likely to hit your plane. "It's right up there by getting struck by lightning, which does happen," Pike said. "There are a lot of things to worry about in this world. This isn't one of them."