Hypodermic needles have been designated as dangerous items — as opposed to prohibited articles — on passenger aircraft by the chief of civil aviation.
This follows the alleged attempted hijacking of a passenger airliner last weekend by a man — a student at the University of Cape Town — who threatened the crew with a hypodermic syringe, demanding that the plane, which was on route from Cape Town to Johannesburg, be diverted to the Mozambican capital of Maputo.
The measure was among several outlined by Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe on Friday to beef up security at the country’s major airports and make commercial flying safer. He was addressing the 256th plenary meeting of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa.
On the issue of hypodermic needles, Radebe said: ”We envisage a situation where in future passengers will be required to explain the purpose and specific requirements they may have in order to carry such items in their carry on luggage or on their person. This is not intended to prohibit carriage for legitimate medical reasons, but to provide clearer guidelines to screening personnel than appears to have been the case previously.”
The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) was in the process of ”operationalising” this instruction and will inform all role-players forthwith, he said.
Radebe added that new and comprehensive civil aviation regulations on cargo security are also in the last stages of approval before promulgation.
The civil aviation regulations have been amended to allow for: security audits; 100% hold baggage screening for both domestic and international flights; paper trails for pre-flight inspections; and improved security of the flight deck or cockpit door.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation-compliant national aviation safety plan has also been effective since November 2004.
”Inter alia, 72 security plans have been received for consideration and approval so far. These include 20 airport security plans, 10 South African airline security plans and 42 foreign airline security plans.”
In addition to these measures, ACSA has employed the services of outside security consultants, including the aviation security division of European aerospace and defence giant, EADS, to provide independent assessments of ACSA systems, structures and procedures.
”An initial report has already been prepared for consideration, and the work continues,” Radebe said.
”We are also finalising an airport safety and security protocol with Senegal that will formalise our already valuable interactions, especially given that Senegal itself has a very strong safety regime in place,” he added. — I-Net Bridge