Alaska Air Airports

Undoubtedly, Friday's Seattle-Tacoma International Airport breaking news was uncommon. A man without a pilot's licence was flying around the Seattle area for just over an hours, officers said, followed by two F-15 fighters as he spoke to air marshals on the air. Air traffic control was quietly trying to persuade him to land, but he instead crashes the plane, probably intentionally, as he refers to psychological problems on broadcasts.

The event took place at an Alaska Airport, Alaska Air's largest hubs, and the audience was thrilled. However, this is basically a work-related homicide by a deranged worker who used his entrance to make a dramatic end possible. It' s not so different from a resentful coworker shooting his co-workers or a policeman driving his cruise ship off a rock.

It raises the issue of whether airports and carriers still have loopholes in the security protocol that can be tackled. Finally, at an aerodrome that carried 47 million people in 2017, this member of the airline's staff was able to take off on a bustling Friday evening without any release from the towers.

It was an operator who had successfully completed a background-inspection and was to work with aeroplanes as a maintenance operator. "Perhaps there is no idiot-proof way to stop skilled, otherwise authorised individuals from using the instruments of their jobs to hurt themselves or others," said Phil Derner Jr., who worked as a scheduler for a large carrier, on Twitter.

Both Seattle International Airports and air carrier officers did not want to enter into speculation on Saturday, but it is possible that air carriers and airports will create new regulations to make sure that there is no similar event. Maybe the carriers make sure that two people, not one, always work on an aeroplane. Maybe they make it harder for staff to move planes on the floor.

However, it is important to remember that airports are basically large towns with ten thousand people working in them. Several of these workmen have direct contact with hazardous objects that, in the wrong hand, could damage an airplane. A lot of people do not go through safety at work, so it is possible to take a weapon or other forbidden object with them on the plane.

But very little goes awry, because the overwhelming majority act with integer. Carriers are confident that they are doing their job. "Floor personnel are professional and don't need to be babbled," said Don. If this had been a non-aircraft clerk who jumped over a railing and took off, it would have been more disturbing.

Aerodrome ramp operatives generally undergo several backgrounds tests - both from the federal administration and from their employer, Alaska CEO Brad Tilden said Saturday at a press briefing. Alaska is going to modify its practices, Tilden said, but he said they generally work well. It'?s pretty uncommon for an air company worker to be stealing an airplane.

Nevertheless, it is possible that air carriers will make greater efforts in the coming years to address psychological questions. Although disastrous flight employee murders are uncommon, they are not unparalleled. In the last three centuries, several planes have been dropped by renegade aviators, most of all Germanwings 9525 in March 2015. The EU last months issued new guidance requiring air carriers to make programmes available to pilot to help with psychological wellbeing.