Dave Gittins got it Right,once we as pilots are exempt from security checks ,we become the loophole whereby for the right money or threat someone will carry an item to be handed over to someone on the inside.
If you honestly think that the regime of 'security' checks at airports stops everything unwanted getting airside you are deluding yourself
- all it takes is for someone to throw something over the fence, for heaven's sake.
Do you really think that a cursory check of a vehicle will stop someone taping a gun/500ml of water
/an ingredient of a bomb onto a vehicle chassis etc (what about the roof - never checked
AFAIK)?
It is all about a
show of presence to deter potential terrorists, to encourage them to try
softer targets, rather than to prevent. To absolutely prevent would bring aviation to a standstill. I liken it to having a burglar alarm - if everyone but you in your street has one, who will the burglars hit?
So pilots are screened for their airside passes, then get screened (in the US) to prove who they are (having already flown 7+ hours to get there) and not having killed anyone en-route; who is kidding who here? It is a joke, as I said before, we can down an aircraft with our bare hands, we don't need a 200ml tube of toothpaste ....