August 2nd, 2004
BOB on board
Security expert Bruce Schneier comments on last week’s United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles from Australia, where a flight attendant found an airsickness bag in a lavatory with the letters "BOB" written on it.
The flight attendant decided that the letters stood for "Bomb On Board" and immediately alerted the captain, who decided the risk was serious enough to turn the plane around and land back in Sydney.
Security works best when people are in charge. I am comforted that the final decision to divert the flight was in the hands of the captain, and not a United Airlines executive who might unduly worry about the $US100,000 the emergency landing ended up costing. The captain is in charge of the plane, and he’s the best person to weigh the risk to the lives of the passengers—and his own—against the inconvenience of diverting the aircraft.
However, if we are to expect airplane captains and flight attendants to make important security decisions, they need to be properly trained. The flight attendant who discovered the airsickness bag didn’t react from reason, but from fear. And that fear was transferred to the captain, who made a bad decision. Fear won’t make anyone more secure. It causes overreactions to false alarms. It entices us to spend ever-increasing amounts of money, and give away ever-increasing civil liberties, while receiving no security in return. It blinds us to the real threats.
