Aviation Terrorism: Regional Variations and Responses

Abstract

With the most comprehensive aviation network in the world, the United States has been the principal victim of aviation terrorism since 1961, when the first US aircraft was hijacked. In fact, more than 40 per cent of the acts of violence against civil aviation around the world have involved US air-craft. When recognition of the threat of aviation terrorism first arose in 1968, the United States started to develop extensive measures to prevent hijacking and other attacks against air transportation. These measures involved the FAA, the FBI and local law-enforcement authorities working in close cooperation with airline operators. However, the United States still suffers from the threat to the safety of civil aviation.