DHS Beefs Up Private Plane Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will impose new aviation

security measures aimed at preventing terrorists from using general aviation

aircraft to sneak into the United States. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(NPRM), Advanced Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the

United States, released on Sept. 11, will require more detailed information

about arriving and departing private aircraft and persons onboard. The NPRM will

require pilots of private aircraft to provide to the U.S. Government complete

passenger and crew manifest data and aircraft information to foster aircraft

identification, tracking and communication, one hour prior to departure to and

from the United States, giving Customs agents time to check names against

terrorist watch lists. The proposed rule is similar to one recently announced to

cover commercial flights. "This rule is designed to further protect the nation

by improving our ability to identify threats on flights to and from the United

States," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "We have a similar

rule in place that allows us to assess the risk of commercial aircraft

passengers on these flights and we are now taking steps to expand that

capability to include passengers on international flights by private aircraft."

DHS is considering a phased approach to implement the proposed security

measures. Under Phase I, DHS will publish the NPRM to elicit public comments

prior to issuance of a final rule and implementation of the new requirements.

Under Phase II, DHS will develop methods and processes to address "additional

security vulnerabilities" for international private aircraft operations at their

last point of departure prior to entering U.S. airspace.

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