Background

Terrorism against the airline industry is one of the biggest threats to security of our time. An airline bombing can be devastating to the travel industry and has the potential to badly damage the entire economy of the United States, as we saw in 9/11. A list of Violence and Terrorism events is contained here: Violence/Terrorism in the Aviation Industry. This listing omits any reference to the Korean Air bombing in 1987:

Nov. 29, 1987 Burma: Korean Air Boeing 707 jetliner exploded from bomb planted by North Korean agents and crashed into sea, killing all 115 aboard. A Korean Airlines plane en route from Baghdad to Bangkok crashed into the jungle near the Thailand-Burma border. All 115 aboard the 707 died. A North Korean agent admitted her guilt, saying the bomb was planted to discourage people from attending the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The bomb was a liquor bottle filled with liquid explosive in a carry-on bag.Ê It was detonated by a nearby device hidden in a transistor radio that the agent placed next to the bag.

At present, The Transportation Security Administration, a division of the department of Homeland Security is developing new Explosives Detection Scanners (EDS) for carry on luggage that will be deployed in the next few years. The rotation video on the right is an example the possible appearance of the Korean carryon bomb, if scanned by one of the new machines under development.

TeleSecurity Sciences is developing new visualization and networking software that will work with existing and future scanners, from all vendors, to greatly enhance their effectiveness. The next generation technology will seal the existing holes in our present screening and security system and help prevent a continuation of the sad chronology of aviation terrorism.