Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport uses RFID positioning system to improve security
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Different from other countries’ security checks, Israeli airport security checks are “for people and not for things”. The airport security staff judges and distinguishes the potential danger level of passengers through “behavior pattern analysis”, and adopts different security check procedures for passengers with different potential danger levels.
Israel is located in the war-torn Middle East, facing armed threats and terrorist attacks every day. It can be said to be one of the most dangerous places in the world. However, since the only hijacking of El Al Israel Airlines in 1968, no Israeli Airways aircraft has been subject to terrorist attacks in 42 years, and no aircraft taking off from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel has been hijacked.
So, how did Israeli civil aviation personnel prevent terrorist attacks so well and ensure aviation safety? It can be said that Israel’s classified security inspection model has helped a lot.
How is the classified security check performed?
There are roughly three steps in the classified security check of Israel’s “behavioral pattern analysis”.
First, implement security inspections. The initial analysis scope of Israel’s “behavior pattern analysis” security check even goes beyond the airport. Passengers may receive calls from the staff of El Al Airlines 3 days before departure, asking about basic personal information and travel purpose plans, etc. These questions may Will be repeated at the airport. In addition, they also analyzed passenger behavior. For example, passengers who paid cash for one-way tickets at the airport ticket office were more likely to attract the attention of security personnel than those who used credit cards to purchase return tickets online.
Second, carry out passenger classification. After passengers arrive at the airport, airport personnel will first classify passengers based on potential risks. Before the X-ray examination, each passenger has to line up to be questioned by a staff member who speaks multiple languages, usually a female. She will ask a series of questions to find out whether anyone is nervous, whether the answer is inconsistent or the luggage is potentially dangerous. For example, you might ask, “Is there anyone you know there? What do you do? What is your occupation? Is the checked baggage completely packed by yourself? Has anyone asked you to take things? Where will your hand luggage be packed? Have you helped you?” Wait a series of questions. After that, the staff will make a safety assessment based on the passenger’s nationality, background, behavior and response, and divide the potential risk level. Generally speaking, 2%-5% of passengers will be selected for secondary security screening.
Third, realize classified security inspection. After grading, most passengers pass through the question and answer session and undergo the ordinary security check procedure, that is, the “first-level security check” procedure. These passengers will no longer have to undergo other strict security checks, and they can even board the plane without X-ray full-body scans. Passengers who are selected to enter the “second-level inspection” may have to spend several hours undergoing interrogation. Airport security personnel will also check all the photos in the passenger’s digital camera, and body searches are more common. In addition, they will ask passengers to open their luggage and check the items one by one.
In order to strengthen the level of airport security checks, Israeli airports have also implemented comprehensive security checks. The security staff will use the camera to monitor the airport boundary all day long, and when the weather affects the camera’s shooting, the radar system will be activated for surveillance. Security officials will also step up monitoring of passengers who are gradually approaching boarding, and some personnel are responsible for closely monitoring places in the airport where passengers are scarce.
There is also a hidden “RFID positioning system” in this security check system at Ben Gurion Airport, allowing airport staff to find and locate every passenger.
They built RFID chips into boarding passes, employee identification cards, and luggage tags, and installed location sensors concealedly in every checkpoint, floor, or floor corridor gap. In this way, security personnel can know the precise location of each worker and passenger at any time, and further ensure airport security. In addition, the airport also uses a variety of weight detection equipment, aircraft landing gear scanning equipment, foot scanning equipment, automatic physiological recorders, sealed baggage trace detection equipment and other related machines to assist in the work and build a three-dimensional security system.
The advantages of classified security
Airport security has always been a cumbersome and troublesome thing. Even so, there are still many loopholes in traditional security. Classified security inspection according to the degree of risk provides a way of thinking, but still requires the improvement of security inspection technology and huge data as a prerequisite.
In general, the classified security inspections implemented by El Al Israel have the following benefits: First of all, “to people and not to objects” directly hits the essence of safety protection. The traditional security check emphasizes “the object is not the person”, and the focus of the security check is on intercepting dangerous items, such as guns, knives and explosives. Israeli security personnel believe that “the razor in the hands of dangerous elements is more dangerous than the pistol in the hands of ordinary travelers.” Therefore, the “behavior pattern analysis” of people runs through the security checkpoints at Israeli airports. Facts have proved that this new security check can better ensure aviation safety. Under the classified security check of “persons and not objects”, new types of explosives like “underpants bombs” will never be able to board the aircraft.
Secondly, hierarchical security inspections optimize the allocation of security inspection resources and improve airport security. “Libya air crash”, “9.11” incident, “Yemen bomb package” and other incidents that threaten aviation safety, will trigger the airport to take more stringent security measures for passengers. This will lead to continuous upgrading of equipment and continuous investment in security inspection resources. After all, the investment of security resources for most ordinary “non-threatening” passengers is an invisible waste. The establishment of “files” can make the control system more effective and avoid the continuous upgrade of security inspection measures. In the classified security check mode, frequent passengers with long-term good flight records do not need to undergo too many security check procedures, and passengers with a higher degree of potential danger are subject to stricter security checks. In this way, not only can the security level of the airport be ensured, but it can also optimize the allocation of security inspection resources and improve the efficiency of the use of security inspection resources.
At present, classified security inspection still has some shortcomings. First, the security check time is too long, and the security check manpower investment is relatively large. Passengers entering the “second-level security check” need to undergo a long security check. Therefore, EL AL recommends that passengers arrive at the airport for security check 3-4 hours in advance to avoid missing their flight. If the classification security method of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport is directly applied to a hub airport with a huge flow of people, such as the Capital Airport, Heathrow Airport or Atlanta Airport, it will easily paralyze the operation of the terminal building. Moreover, long-term and comprehensive and detailed security inspections will inevitably require high investment. According to reports, El Al’s annual security costs are about 100 million U.S. dollars.
Second, the classified security inspection model may face legal risks of infringement of privacy or discrimination. Some countries believe that the practice of classified security screening is like putting a brand on certain passengers. Therefore, the application of classified security checks, whether passengers can accept this approach is still open to question. These strict methods are sometimes unavoidable to be accused of similar violations of personal freedom. Therefore, the United States, the European Union, and Canada have all begun to consider using high-tech products such as machines in security checks to avoid possible accusations and troubles during manual searches.
Third, how to “classify” has become the key to security inspection. What methods can be used to determine who is a potentially high-security passenger? What factors should be considered? The origin, age, gender, and ethnic classification of passengers may be used as a method. This requires not only the establishment and maintenance of a system checklist and a huge database, but also the solid knowledge and rich experience of security classification personnel. This obviously places higher requirements on airport security human resources.
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