Wirraway
10th Oct 2003, 00:26
Fri "Melbourne Age"
Qantas queries role of air marshals
By Andra Jackson
October 10, 2003
Qantas's head of security has questioned the relevance of the system of sky marshals as an anti-terrorism measure.
The group manager of Qantas's security and investigation services division, Geoff Askew, said the airline's cabin crew were being trained to assume there was no sky marshal on their flights and that "if all hell breaks loose, you're it".
Staff are told to regard it as a bonus if a sky marshal should be on board. Mr Askew said Qantas had adopted this approach because it had about 600 domestic flights a day and about 600 international flights a week.
"If you assume that there are sky marshals on 50 per cent of those services, then what do you do with the other 50 per cent?" he said.
"If you have enhanced training now and you've got enhanced cockpit doors, is the relevance of the sky marshals as great now as when the policy was made?" It might be that the resources devoted to sky marshals could best be employed elsewhere, he said.
Mr Askew was speaking on "The world's airlines: crime, terrorism and intelligence" at the annual Crime Stoppers International training conference in Melbourne.
"There is no doubt . . . that since the Australian Government's involvement in East Timor, the threat to Australian interests and Australian aviation interests from Islamic extremists has increased and is real," he said.
Mr Askew cautioned that governments must "address the root causes of terrorism and not just focus on punitive and military measures".
============================================
Qantas queries role of air marshals
By Andra Jackson
October 10, 2003
Qantas's head of security has questioned the relevance of the system of sky marshals as an anti-terrorism measure.
The group manager of Qantas's security and investigation services division, Geoff Askew, said the airline's cabin crew were being trained to assume there was no sky marshal on their flights and that "if all hell breaks loose, you're it".
Staff are told to regard it as a bonus if a sky marshal should be on board. Mr Askew said Qantas had adopted this approach because it had about 600 domestic flights a day and about 600 international flights a week.
"If you assume that there are sky marshals on 50 per cent of those services, then what do you do with the other 50 per cent?" he said.
"If you have enhanced training now and you've got enhanced cockpit doors, is the relevance of the sky marshals as great now as when the policy was made?" It might be that the resources devoted to sky marshals could best be employed elsewhere, he said.
Mr Askew was speaking on "The world's airlines: crime, terrorism and intelligence" at the annual Crime Stoppers International training conference in Melbourne.
"There is no doubt . . . that since the Australian Government's involvement in East Timor, the threat to Australian interests and Australian aviation interests from Islamic extremists has increased and is real," he said.
Mr Askew cautioned that governments must "address the root causes of terrorism and not just focus on punitive and military measures".
============================================