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Scientists test hijack-proof plane
Last updated at 15:52pm on 11.09.06
Hijack-proof airliners could soon become a reality
Tests have begun on a hijack-proof airliner that will steer clear of tall buildings if taken over by terrorists, according to defence giant BAE Systems.
Scientists are creating a computer system which spots suspicious passenger behaviour and can identify if an intruder is trying to take control.
It is part of a four-year 35.8 million euro (£25 million) project among European aviation specialists to thwart terrorists who have slipped through airport security.
Tests as part of the Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project began in July.
They will continue through 2007 using simulators at Toulouse, Hamburg and Amsterdam.
In future passengers could be watched up by video and microphone sensors which are being developed by scientists at BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre in Filton, Bristol.
CCTV, fingerprint technology and sophisticated biometric systems are also being created to ensure that only bona fide pilots take to the skies.
More than 100 aviation experts from 31 companies, including a team from Reading University, are taking part in the project, which aims to make the aircraft the last barrier of defence against terror attacks.
BAE Systems is leading the development of a Threat Assessment and Response Management System (TARMS) designed to assemble data and recommend appropriate responses for the cockpit crew via a computer screen.
Dr Catherine Neary, the BAE Systems human factors specialist, said: "How the crew and ground staff respond to perceived threats is as important as detecting the threats themselves.
"BAE Systems is using its expertise in surveillance and security techniques from the defence arena to support this project aimed at protecting civilians."
A computer system designed to avoid collisions by changing the aircraft's trajectory to stop it being steered into a building or mountain is among the potential on-board devices.
There may also be a computer which, through a sophisticated biometric system, can defy a mid-flight takeover by spotting an intruder and guiding the aircraft to the nearest airport.
The SAFEE programme includes a chip-based system which will match passengers to luggage, a biometric camera at check-in to verify passenger identity, and an electronic nose to sniff out explosives before boarding.
There will also be a secure cockpit biometric system which will recognise crew members by their fingerprints and check if they are opening the cockpit under duress.
A data protection system to secure communications including conversations between cockpit and ground control is also being drawn up.
SAFEE coordinator Daniel Gaultier said: "You never reach zero level of threat, no risk, but if you equip planes with on-board electronics, it will make them very difficult to hijack."
The project runs until February 2008.
Reader views (7)
Only tazers could be used...
Firearms plus pressurized cabins = everyone dies.
- Greg, Washington, DC - USA
Look, just put a basket of handguns at the door of every flight. Anyone who wants a gun can have one, provided they return it at the end of the flight. This will have a damping effect on mischief makers.
- Rpu28, Texas
What constitutes a 'tall building'? The Pentagon wasn't tall. The White House isn't tall. What about the St Louis Arch?
- Djlender, St Louis, MO USA
What happens when the pilots are killed by snakes and a passenger needs to land the plane?
- Allah Sulu, Washington DC, USA
The idea is fascinating, certainly. But unless the program can force the plane to safely land at an airport or other secure place, what's to stop the terrorists from trying to make a kamikaze run at the airport the plane automatically steers itself to? The other concern is that given Richard Reid, the "Gatorade bomb plotters" of this past August and even that idiot who brought a half-stick of dynamite from South America onto a plane that landed here at LAX, how will this system protect from the old standby of blowing the planes out of the sky sans hijacking?
- Pat Payne, Los Angeles, USA
The biometrics on the cockpit worry me. What if the pilot takes ill, co-pilot can't function and a non-flight crew member has to take over? Unlikely, but possible. Needs to be a ground-based override...
- D'N, Petah Tikvah, Israel
I have an alternative plan and I'll only charge $5 million for it: arm the pilots.
- Gormless, Macomb
