LAX Shooting is a Wakeup Call

Guns and airports don’t mix well … unless those weapons are being carried by law enforcement officers.

Period.

As the aviation industry evolves from an era of proactive problem solving to a search for more predictive solutions based on the tons of data we’re gathering about the industry, we should have seen something like last week’s shooting at Los Angeles International Airport coming.

The data was there. It’s just that no one analyzed it for what it really was … a warning.

Each week the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) publishes lists and photos of the weapons their agents confiscate at airport security checkpoints. For all their customer-service foibles, the TSA is at it’s most admirable at these efforts.

In the week ending October 25 — just days before the shooting — the TSA confiscated 39 handguns at major airports like Houston, Jacksonville and Charlotte. Most of them had a round in the chamber too. Look back over the past year alone and you’ll see the weekly numbers were pretty consistent. Hundreds of weapons then have been brought to airports each year. Why?

The reasons the TSA receives for why these gun-toting folks bring their weapons are often simply bizarre. Responses ideas like, “I forgot I had that gun in my computer bag/purse,” or “Of course it’s loaded. What good is it if it’s not loaded.”

Twelve years after 9/11 people trying to jump on an airliner remember to remove their toothpaste and water bottles from their carry ons, but not their loaded 38s.

Did you notice how quickly the story about the LAX shooting seemed to die? That tells me that while we mourn the life of the TSA agent killed, the federal government is not going to begin adding any new security at airports, any more than they’ve figured out how to insure kid’s are safe from weapons at grade schools.

Everyone Loves a Little Good Public Relations

But there is a piece of security PR to be won with a small group that can’t fight back too hard; a group that surely has some of these weapons vulnerabilities that might make for a good story … business aviation … both Part 91 and Part 135.

We don’t screen passengers for weapons, except for the hunting parties we carry and then only to be certain the rifles are unloaded. There is a minor screening of aircraft and crews headed for Washington Reagan (DCA), but that’s a very minor part of the issue.

Business aviation pilots don’t ask passengers if they’re carrying either. In fact, most biz jet pilots would be fired if they even thought of asking passengers about weapons, which makes me think there certainly are some who are carrying.

So business aviation … think about all those guns the TSA grabs every week. Think of how much we don’t know about this aspect of our passengers. The data’s out there if anyone takes the time to read and analyze it. It’s probably time to start watching our backs for a problem that the data says is bound to come down the road pretty soon.

Rob Mark, Publisher