Israelis claim new anti-hijacking system is foolproof

On this busiest of all air travel days, news arrives via Reuters that the Israeli government is about to begin test runs of new technology designed to keep airliners out of the control of 9/11-style hijackers.

The story -- intriguing both for what it says and doesn't say -- is but one example of the security-related technological advances that continue to emerge in the wake of that catastrophe.

From the Reuters article:

Starting next year, Israel will require pilots who fly to its airports to use the Security Code System (SCS), a local invention designed to ensure planes that have been commandeered for al Qaeda-style attacks are spotted in time.

Israel plans a trial run for the system, using a credit card-sized keypad, next month, in cooperation with five airlines from the United States, Europe and Africa. About 10,000 of the units will ultimately be issued, with Israel bearing the cost.

Pilots who fail the authentication test when they approach Israeli airspace will be denied entry. Should a plane go ahead, ignoring further warnings, Israel will consider it hostile and scramble fighter planes for an interception. In the worst case, that could mean an aircraft is shot down.

As might be expected, details of how the system works are scant.

However, the Israelis contend that this new system is foolproof, a claim that experts in airline security find difficult to accept at face value. There is also disagreement in regards to how pilots might act in a "gun to the head" situation, a contingency which the Israelis say their system can handle.

Airport security as it stands today is anything but foolproof, of course, as we learn from the news on an almost daily basis.

Just last week the U.S. General Accounting Office issued a blistering condemnation of airport security here after GAO testers demonstrated the ease with which they could carry bomb-making materials past airport screeners.

Then there are the increasingly loud privacy concerns.

So it would be a wonderful development if the confidence Israeli authorities are expressing in their new anti-hijacking system proves warranted. One less thing to worry about.

In the meantime, work continues on finding a way to end the air-travel indignity of having to remove one's shoes.