AOPA hosts TSA security exercise
AOPA has long promoted strong security measures for general aviation airports and aircraft in cooperation with security agencies, law enforcement organizations, and industry groups. A recent exercise held at AOPA’s headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, brought those stakeholders together to sharpen their security awareness based on real-world scenarios.
The event hosted at AOPA’s You Can Fly Academy on Dec. 11 was the Transportation Security Administration’s Intermodal Security Training Exercise Program (I-STEP) exercise, a training forum designed to enhance security and reduce risk to individual transportation systems and the entire transportation sector.
In opening remarks, Michael Rucinski of the TSA’s Aviation Division updated participants on the security guidance the agency provides to the GA community, including the role of the Transportation Security Operations Center (TSOC). The center was established in 2003 and “connects with the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, FBI and other law enforcement and security agencies to analyze and monitor the entire U.S. transportation network,” according to the TSA website.
The I-STEP participants proceeded to consider hypothetical security-breach scenarios as the basis for discussing their general security arrangements and exploring how they would respond to the kind of threat posed by the scenario. For example, the discussion included debating whether it would be best to contact local law enforcement or the AOPA Airport Watch hotline—which routes the call to the TSOC—given the nature of the scenario.
In 2003, AOPA partnered with the TSA and launched the Airport Watch Program, intended to identify and thwart an act of terror involving a GA aircraft, and enhance security at GA airports and facilities. AOPA’s Airport Watch is modeled after the highly successful neighborhood watch programs used throughout the country. The program relies on civic-minded pilots and airport staff to be alert and report suspicious activity at local airports to the national hotline (866-GA-SECURE).
Sakata added that AOPA continues to work with the TSA to enhance GA security and promote the Airport Watch program, and remains committed to advocating for local and national GA security policies that are risk-based rather than across-the-board arbitrary measures.
