The murder of the pilot of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet with 517 people on board in the air over Tokyo raises serious questions about aviation safety. In an era in which international standards have been set for airport security it seems unacceptable that at a major terminal, such as Tokyo's Haneda domestic airport, a passenger was able to board a plane while carrying a knife which was used to kill.
The regrettable conclusion which must be reached is that if this can happen at an important Japanese airport, it can happen elsewhere as well. In this case the would-be hijacker appears to have been an aviation insider. It may have been easier for him to conceal the weapon in the course of the usual security checks which precede boarding.
But these checks should be more thorough. It should be impossible to bring murderous weapons on to a jetliner at a civil airport. It seems obvious that some airlines, notably US carriers at non-US airports, do not completely trust airport security systems. If they did they would hardly feel it necessary to introduce their own pre-boarding security checks on top of those provided by the airports themselves.
Recent happenings in the skies suggest that air travel is becoming more fraught. A survey has shown that the phenomenon known as "air rage" is on the increase. Access to alcohol, particularly on the part of young travellers, has caused serious problems.
Lack of access to tobacco as smoking increasingly becomes forbidden on aircraft has also been blamed for "rage" on the part of frustrated smokers. In some cases passengers who would normally be considered respectable have committed appalling offences, for which they have been arrested immediately their flights landed. In a British court case recently a passenger was given a prison sentence for refusing to turn off a mobile phone capable of interfering with the aircraft's electronic systems.
Air travel remains an extremely safe form of transportation but its problems are increasing. The number of people using the world's airlines is increasing at a remarkable rate. Air-traffic control systems are being put under severe pressure due to the ever larger number of aircraft travelling to and transiting through busy locations. Long delays, particularly in summer months, have become part of the air-travel package.
Travellers can do without subconscious worries about armed hijackers on top of all the other frustrations they experience. The report of the investigation into the Japanese incident should be extremely clear in illustrating how the passenger managed to board with such a weapon. It should be clear enough to allow other airports learn how to eliminate completely the possibility of a similar occurrence.