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Flight Attendant Security Training in Focus

Flight Attendant Security Training in Focus

Amy Freed Stalzer

As the role of the commercial flight attendant grows ever more important in ensuring the protection of passengers, both in-person and emerging technologies will play a role in their training. Last year was the second most disruptive with regards to unruly U.S. airline passengers since the FAA started tracking data in the mid-1990s, with 2,456…

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Transport Watch

22 February 2023: Raleigh-Durham Intl. Airport

American Airlines Flight 3444 en route to D.C. from Jacksonville, Florida, diverted to Raleigh, North Carolina, due to an unruly passenger, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The flight, operated by Envoy Air as American Eagle, was scheduled from Jacksonville, Fla., to Reagan National but ended up landing at…

14 March 2023: Over The Black Sea

Two Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted an intercept with a U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea. At approximately 7:03 a.m. (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to…

14 March 2023: California

Heavy snow, rainfall and subsequent flooding caused damage to roads in California in March. One man abandoned his vehicle just before it was swept away by rushing floodwaters. The man was left stranded on a spit of land and had to be rescued via Coast Guard helicopter.

10 January 2023: Washington, D.C.

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop to flight operations because the Notice to Air Missions system, or NOTAMs “failed,” impacting flight operations “across the National Airspace System” on the January 11. Technicians reportedly worked to restore it, the FAA said, and eventually it was restored just before 9 a.m..…

5 March 2023: En Route to Boston

Video shot by a passenger mid-flight on a Boston-bound plane shows a threatening outburst and attack that resulted in the arrest of a man from Leominster, Massachusetts, on Sunday, March 5. The man, Francisco Torres, 33 years old, is accused of trying to open an emergency door and trying to…

3 February 2023: Across the United States

A large surveillance balloon was spotted over U.S. airspace for several days in early February. U.S. Pentagon officials opted not to shoot it down right away citing concerns of not being able to predict where it might land and possibly causing harm to people on the ground. A senior defense…

14 January 2023: Atlanta, Georgia

On January 6, a man identified as Terence Stewart somehow managed to get over the razor wire fence that surrounds the perimeter of the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Intl. Airport, local police confirmed. Officials at the airport were investigating how the man was able to get into the secured area of the…

22 December 2022

The body of a man was discovered in the landing gear area of an aircraft that flew from Gambia to Britain. The unidentified body of a black male was found in the wheel well of a jet operated by charter airline, Tui Airways, that had flown from the Gambian capital…

19 October 2022: Los Angeles, California

On October 19, 2022, at approximately 7:30 in the morning, LA County Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau Detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents assigned to a task force at the Los Angeles International Airport seized approximately 12,000 suspected fentanyl pills. The suspect attempted to go through TSA screening with several bags…

21 October 2022: Toronto, Canada

Two people were detained in connection with a possible explosive device found at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport Ferry Terminal October 21. The discovery prompted an evacuation of the airport. Operations at the airport were suspended. Toronto police said the two persons of interest were in custody and cooperating with the…

24 November 2022: Kenner, Louisiana

After being forcibly removed from an airplane for asking passengers who appeared to her to be Latino whether they were smuggling drugs, a niece of the former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bit, kicked and spit on Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputies who were trying to detain her authorities said. The…

28 November 2022: Little Rock, Arkansas

A woman’s actions forced a Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas, when she bit a passenger and made the claim that Jesus told her to open the plane door 37,000 ft in the air. Flight 192 was on its way from Houston to Ohio…

6 December 2022: Worldwide

A joint INTERPOL – World Customs Organization (WCO) law enforcement operation has seen hundreds of arrests and the disruption of wildlife and timber crime networks globally. Codenamed “Thunder 2022”, the month-long (3-30 October) operation brought together police, customs, financial intelligence units, wildlife and forestry enforcement agencies from 125 countries, the…

24 August 2022: Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak Airport (ADQ) Supervisory TSA Officer Sarah Webb was using her split shift break to get lunch when she passed a taxi stopped on the side of the road. “It just didn’t look right,” remembers Webb. “I turned around and went back and asked if everything was OK,” said Webb,…

8 March 2023: Off the Coast of Africa

The Office of Naval Intelligence reports that pirates, armed robbers and kidnapping for ransom (KFR) groups continue to operate off Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo, targeting a variety of vessels to include tankers, container ships, general cargo vessels, fishing vessels,…

6 February 2023: Daebichi Island, South Korea

Nine people went missing in a South Korean boat incident. A search was conducted by the Coast Guard from the southwestern port city of Mokpo in South Korea. The fishermen’s boat capsized near the southwestern coast and reports said that three crew members were rescued but nine others went missing.…

3 March 2023: In and Around the Waters of Ukraine

According to the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, multiple commercial vessels have been struck by projectiles or have experienced explosions in Ukrainian ports and in the northwestern Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine.These incidents have occurred since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February…

17 March 2023: Off the Coast of Texas

The Coast Guard interdicted a lancha crew and seized 600 pounds of illegally caught fish in federal waters off southern Texas. A Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boat crew, in coordination with Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi and Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews, located and stopped a…

16 November 2022: East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Around 240 people were rescued and at least 17 died (an updated figure as initially it was reported that 14 had died) when a boat caught fire off the coast of Indonesia. Three boats, as well as local fishermen, came to the scene to assist in the rescue efforts, authorities…

10 November 2022: Neches River

A state licensed pilot from the Sabine Pilots took navigational control of the Gas Ares as it was heading to a loading dock on the Neches River. Due to wind conditions, the pilot planned to have an escort tug for the transit through the Sabine Neches Canal and Neches River.…

4 November 2022: France, Algeria, Guinea

In a case that demonstrates the great risks faced by migrants that resort to smugglers, an eight-year-old boy has been rescued by law enforcement after being kidnapped by fellow migrants and held for ransom. The boy and his mother had left Côte d’Ivoire in early 2021, hoping to make the…

11 November 2022: Toulon, France

France allowed the Ocean Viking rescue ship that was carrying more than 200 migrants and refugees rescued in the Mediterranean to dock at their port of Toulon. This followed terse communications with Italy over the fate of the vessel. Gerald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said that the Italian government’s ban…

17 November 2022: Lower Mississippi River

An electrical generator set (genset) failure and subsequent loss of steering led to the grounding of a towing vessel near Greenville, Mississippi, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. The towing vessel Marquette Warrior was pushing 35 loaded dry cargo barges down the Lower Mississippi River on Nov. 21, 2021,…

29 November 2022: Gran Canaria, Spain

Three stowaways were found sitting on the rudder of a ship as it concluded an 11-day voyage from Nigeria, according to Spanish Coast Guard authorities. A photo shared by the coastguard shows the three men sitting on the rudder at the stern of the oil tanker, their feet dangling several…

13 October 2022: The Caribbean Sea

A joint firearms operation between INTERPOL and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) has led to the seizure of some 350 weapons, 3,300 rounds of ammunition and record drug hauls across the Caribbean. Operation Trigger VII (24 – 30 September) saw officers from 19 countries…

25 October 2022: The East River, New York

A software flaw combined with the captain’s failure to use back-up controls led to the grounding of a passenger ferry last year in New York City, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a review of the accident in October. The high-speed passenger ferry Commodore, owned and operated by Seastreak,…

14 September 2022: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

U. S. Coast Guard and federal, state, local agencies and industry organizations from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands conducted a functional area maritime security exercise Wednesday, 14 September, throughout the Captain of the Port Zone area of responsibility. The exercise was part of the nationwide Area Maritime Security…

1 March 2023: Tempe, Greece

Dozens of passengers were killed near Tempe, Greece, when two trains collided at high speed, head on. One train was carrying freight and the other carried passengers. Rescue crews searched for survivors through flattened cars as the wreckage smoked Wednesday, March 1. There were many additional passengers injured in the…

3 February 2023: Near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A large train of about 50 cars derailed in Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line. The train was carrying a freight from Madison, Ill., to Conway, Penn., according to the operator, Norfolk Southern. At the time, no information was released about what caused the derailment. Officials in the area issued…

3 January 2023: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Webtec Corporation disclosed a data breach after a Lockbit ransomware attack in 2022. Wabtec says hackers breached their network and installed malware on specific systems as early as March 15, 2022. The U.S. rail and locomotive company disclosed a data breach that exposed personal and sensitive information. Wabtec is a…

8 September 2022: Imperial County, California

On September 8, 2022, about 2:40 a.m. local time, a conductor and engineer of Union Pacific Railroad (UP) train ISILB5-07 were killed when the train collided with railcars stored in a siding near Imperial County, California. The train was traveling eastbound about 28 mph on Mainline 2 when a UP…

28 October 2022: Beaumont, Texas

On October 28, 2022, about 12:02 a.m. local time, a PSC Group train conductor was struck and killed by train 3832 during a reverse movement at the ExxonMobil refinery plant in Beaumont, Texas. The train consisted of one locomotive and 19 tank cars. The conductor, part of a four-person PSC…

September 12 2022: U. S. Nationwide

Railroads in the U. S. stopped accepting shipments of hazardous and other security-sensitive materials due to the looming threat of a strike Friday the 16th of September. A major national railroad, Union Pacific, whose operations would be stopped by a strike, said it was being done to “protect employees, customers,…

24 August 2022: The English Channel

A Le Shuttle incident began when the train’s alarms went off. Passengers were left stranded for several hours inside the Channel Tunnel when the train from Calais to Folkestone broke down. In footage that emerged later, Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers were shown being evacuated through an emergency service tunnel after…

27 June 2022: Brentwood, California

Three people died and two others were seriously injured when an Amtrak train collided with a car in Brentwood, California, over the weekend according to the East Contra Costa Fire Department. The two people who were wounded (one was a child), suffered serious injuries and were taken to a local…

28 June 2022: Mendon, Missouri

Three people died and another 50 were injured when an Amtrak train derailed after hitting a dump truck in Missouri, authorities said. Cpl. Justin Dunn, a spokesperson for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B, told reporters that two of the people who were killed were aboard the train while the…

24 August 2022: Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine

Twenty-two people were killed on Wednesday 24 August in an attack on the Chaplyne train station in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. “Chaplyne is our pain today,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky. “As of this moment, there are 22 dead, five of them burned in the car, a teenager died, he was 11 years…

29 March 2022: Kaduna, Nigeria

An attack on a passenger train, the second since October happened on 29 March. Armed rebels in the northeast and bandits who have kidnapped hundreds for ransom in the center and northwest parts of the country have left the population scared. Nigerian government officials said a passenger train headed left…

8 June 2022: Tabas, Iran

A train derailed in eastern Iran, killing 21 people and injuring 87 more, according to reports. The train was part of state-run Islamic Republic Railway and was carrying around 350 people when it derailed near the town of Tabas, 340 miles southeast of Tehran, on its way to the city…

3 June 2022: Burgrain District, Germany

A train derailment ina Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany killed five and injured 30. Rescuers used ladders to reach passengers who became trapped. “In the serious train accident, as of 3:32 pm (1532 GMT), four people were fatally injured,” a police statement said. The train was “very crowded and…

15 March 2023: Rochester, New York

A jeep, stolen at knife point just moments earlier, was caught on camera crashing into a school bus filled with children in Rochester, New York. The jeep was being pursued by police already and the driver was apprehended and arrested at the scene. Fortunately, there were no injuries to the…

24 December 2022

A massive car pile up occurred during the bomb cyclone on the Ohio Turnpike MP 106. Troopers on scene confirmed four fatalities with many injured from the pile up, with a minimum of 46 vehicles involved. Multiple agencies from several counties assisted with rescue operations. White-out conditions persisted for an…

23 December 2022: Kafr Qasim, Israel

Three police officers were wounded after being rammed by a vehicle in a terror attack in Kafr Qasim, a city east of Tel Aviv. Local police said the assailant, Naim Badir, called them over to a parking area of a building, claiming there had been a violent incident, before pulling…

10 February 2023: Jerusalem, Israel

A suspected vehicle ramming occurred in Jerusalem, Israel, on February 10. The incident injured seven people. The incident occurred near a bus stop at the corner of Golda Meir Avenue and Binyamin Mintz in the Ramot neighborhood. A six-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were killed. Five others were wounded…

14 March 2023: Southeast Türkiye

Fourteen people died and others were reported missing after flooding in two cities that were already devastated by last month’s earthquakes in Türkiye. Victims of the flooding were quake survivors who had been living in container homes since losing their homes in the earthquakes. Cars were swept up in the…

15 February 2023: United States

An estimate published in February 2023 put the number of catalytic converter thefts during 2022 at around 77,000. The new estimate was compiled from millions of service records but a report by Carfax says that figure underestimated the number of catalytic converters that were stolen in the U.S. during 2022.…

16 January 2023: New Orleans, Louisiana

More than 400 cars were stolen in New Orleans in the first 16 days of 2023, New Orleans police (NOPD) reported. The NOPD says it has responded to 403 calls for service related to stolen cars. The Metropolitan Crime Commission (MCC) believes that number is a bit higher, tracking over…

22 October 2022: Santiago, Chile

The burglary of a shop in Chile culminated in a car chase and subsequently, money being spread across a highway. According to local media, the alleged burglars tried to steal approximately $10,300 – 10m Chilean pesos. Six people were arrested. Fortunately, most of the money was recovered by police.

28 November 2022: El Paso, Texas

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Stanton Street dedicated commuter lane border crossing seized 19.78 pounds of cocaine from a traveler enrolled in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) lane. “The use of SENTRI is a privilege but participants are not exempt from inspection,”…

3 November 2022: Detroit, Michigan

The parent company of Chrysler, Stellantis, and the U. S. government warned drivers of 276,000 older vehicles to stop driving them. The Takata air bags that were installed in those models have exploded, apparently, causing death in at least three recent cases. The effected models include the Dodge Magnum wagon,…

7 November 2022: Atlanta, Georgia

A driver who crashed into an Atlanta area charter school, Ivy Preparatory Academy injuring three students was charged with aggravated assault, according to local police. The driver, Obinna Aguocha, 39, drove or crashed into a classroom where 22 fifth graders were studying. Three student were taken to local hospitals but…

23 November 2022: Chicago, Illinois

A car speeding down the wrong way of a Chicago street smashed into numerous other vehicles at an intersection. The two occupants were killed and 16 other people were injured, including seven children, according to a police statement. The vehicle, a Dodge Charger, was traveling “at a very high rate…

17 November 2022: Whittier, California

Nicholas Gutierrez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer after he reportedly drove his SUV into the wrong lane and then crashed into a group of Los Angeles County law enforcement recruits as they exercised on a training run. Twenty-five recruits were injured, five of them…

November 21 2022: Hingham, Massachusetts

A vehicle crashed through the front window of an Apple store Monday, November 21 in Hingham, Massachusetts. One person was killed and 16 others were injured, authorities said. Police were investigating but didn’t indicate whether the crash was believed to be accidental.