US aviation remains vulnerable to attack and groups such as al Qaeda may try to target non-commercial planes and helicopters, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a confidential government report. The report by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security says the aviation industry is a tempting target for acts of terrorism due to the spectacular nature of such attacks, the Times said. Billions of dollars have been spent to bolster security following the September 11, 2001, hijacked-airliner attacks.
Commercial airliners are likely to remain a target, but intelligence indicates al Qaeda may have discussed plans to hijack chartered planes, helicopters and other general aviation aircraft because they are less well-guarded, the newspaper said.
"As security measures improve at large commercial airports, terrorists may choose to rent or steal general aviation aircraft housed at small airports with little or no security," the Times quoted the report as saying.
al Qaeda "has apparently considered the use of helicopters as an alternative to recruiting operatives for fixed-wing aircraft operations," the report said.
Comments
Comments are closed.