EL AL: The World’s Most Secure Airline
El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, is widely regarded as the world’s most secure. Because of the tense geopolitical and religious conflicts around the world’s only Jewish nation, Israel and its airports are high risk targets for terrorist attacks.
Because of the highly sensitive nature of El Al’s security, many of the measures are classified. There are certainly tons happening that we don’t know. I’ll cover what’s been confirmed, as well as some pretty established “speculation.”
At Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, plainclothes and uniformed agents monitor the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats. Armed security personnel also patrol El Al terminals overseas. Inside the terminal, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers are asked questions about their place of origin, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves. Allegations of discrimination against travelers from Arab nations or of Arab descent have been brought upon El Al. According to a private security risk assessment officer (who’s my neighbor, so I won’t disclose his name) who I talked to, it’s a tight line to walk.
On the one hand, the majority of terror attacks against Israel do come from various Arab extremist groups. That’s just the nature of the situation. But discrimination is absolutely not OK, for any reason.
At airports around the globe (everywhere El Al serves) undercover agents of either Mossad (Israeli military intelligence) or Shin Bet (Israeli internal security, like the FBI) are stationed to do countesurveillence. When a passenger checks in online or at the airport, or their passport is scanned, their name and information is sent through a system that references dozens of law enforcement agencies (Interpol, FBI, NSA, CIA, Scotland Yard, MI6, MI5, and CSIS, just to name a few) which looks for any potential criminal/terror ties.
At every airport they serve, private El Al security agents perform secondary baggage searches, on top of the typical airport security (like TSA). With the bag search, items will be swabbed and tested for traces of explosives. Once all this is done, you are free to board your flight. As you do this, you may be pulled aside for additional questioning or inspection at random. Undercover and uniformed agents will carefully analyze your body language and verbal cues for potential threats.
Once onboard, El Al is almost a normal airline. Almost.
Undercover agents (carrying concealed firearms), sit among the passengers on every international El Al flight. Most El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force. The cockpits in all El Al aircraft have double doors to prevent entry by unauthorized persons. A code is required to access the doors, and the second door will open only after the first has closed and the person has been identified by the captain or first officer. Furthermore, there are reinforced steel floors separating the passenger cabin from the baggage hold.
Flight attendants are trained in Krav Maga, a deadly martial art developed by the IDF. Some are also qualified to be armed with firearms, and all are equipped with tasers. In a somewhat controversial move, undercover agents are instructed to shoot first, ask questions later, in responsive to any “disturbing behavior.”
Perhaps more famously, El Al equips all their planes with state of the art missile defense systems.
In 2004, El Al became the first airline to install an anti-missile system on a commercial aircraft. The technology was first developed for the Israeli Air Force’s Flight Guard, a sophisticated radar system that detects incoming missiles and ejects flares to confuse and deflect the missiles. The Israeli airline’s anti-missile defense system has since been updated repeatedly.
El Al’s aircraft are equipped with a Doppler radar system that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data pertaining to objects at a distance. When an LY aircraft comes under attack, the system responds within seconds by firing invisible flares that divert any heat-seeking missiles.
The Doppler radar system is comprised of four antennas: one at the front, two at the side, and one at the back. The configuration provides 360-degree coverage around the aircraft.
The Doppler radar system costs around US$1 million per aircraft to be installed.