September 11 Attack And Airport Security

The 9/11 attacks impacted the united states tremendously. It changed the way airports now run, it’s security, surveillance and the way people are checked during screeners. September 11, 2001 is a day that will never be forgotten, It all started in the early morning of september 11. At around 8:40 in the morning American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the north tower, many thought that this was an accident due to the twins towers being so high, but just 20 minutes later at 9:00 am a second plane crashed into the south tower. Both planes killed everyone aboard and hundreds of people inside of the towers.

That day There were four attacks, Two in New York, Washington DC and pennsylvania. The hijackers flew Flight 77 into the pentagon in Washington DC killing 184 people. The fourth plane flight 93 crashed into a field in pennsylvania. This plane was brought down by its own passengers, they fought back with the hijackers until the plane went down, it killed everyone inside. Still to this day it has not been known where was this plane headed to, some say it was headed to the white house but it has never been confirmed.

People were left devastated but the main priority was to find out who was responsible for the terrific attacks. The FBI collected as much evidence as they could. Other countries offered their help to to find out who was the person behind everything. All the evidence they had pointed fingers on three people, which were Osama Bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Mohammed Atef. Not all 19 of the hijackers were identified but some of them were with the help of the passengers, they described them while the hijacking was taking place.

The 9/11 attack left a huge impact in the united states. Since this attack the U.S has been in an ongoing war with afghanistan still to this day this is an issue. Immigration and deportation has changed in a very big way, it has become more stricter with more requirements for those trying to come in and out of the country. The rate of deportation has raised double than what it was before 9/11.

This attack made many things change including airport security. Before the 9/11 attack airports and the airlines were more freely than they are now. Airlines themselves determine what was allowed and not allowed in the plane, there were only a small amount of things on the list of things that weren’t allowed, things such as knives and needles were allowed inside of the plane. The airports and the federal government had no relations about their securities.

Airports were forced to reinforce their security, they had to become stricter and require many more things than they did before. Things such as Identifications with IDs and tickets and baggage are very well checked. Travelers must removed shoes, jackets and jewelry at checkpoints. Before the attack non travelers were in certain gate areas with their loved one that were traveling, that has now changed, if you are not traveling you cannot be around those areas. This has made checkpoints longer for travelers, they must arrive at the airport one of two hours prior their flight time.

The Aviation and Transportation security act was passed after 9/11 to reinforce security. This act included stricter guidelines on passengers and luggage. Since this bill was passed the federal government became responsible for the security in airports, it require the travelers to require more personal information. The flight crew are now trained to deal with suspicious passengers. Many restrictions for luggages were put into action, the access to certain gates became restricted to travelers.

Airport surveillance plays a major role in protecting against acts of terrorist. Cameras have now improved to where the can detect suspicious individuals just by scanning their face. There are cameras all around the airport inside and outside of the airport. the airports gates are very well surveillance, not only is there cameras on every gates but there is always two or more security guards by the gates.

After the attack many things such as products and objects were banned from having in airports. Before the attacks the airports and airlines only had a small list of things that passengers couldn’t bring with them such as knives and needles. Now almost everything that may be considered a weapon is banned even the smallest things. Things that are banned are matches, poisons, infectious materials, magnetic materials, flammable items etc. Certain liquids and gels are allowed but these also have some restrictions, they are mainly only allowed for medical purposes or little kids bottles or things you purchase inside of the airport.

Airport security changed a lot since 9/11 and they are still working on improving the technology. They want to make it even more saver and easier for passengers. Luggage scanners will be improved and walk through scanners for travelers. People usually should be at the airport about 1 to 2 hours early before their flight to make sure they get checked and scanned properly, they now want to further the technology to make checkpoints much faster.

To conclude, In the last 17 years airports have become much safer for passengers. The technology now is not what it was back then, it has improved tremendously. Things like cameras, luggage scanners, walk through scanners and passengers information is now much stricter with many more requirements, and it will only keep improving for the safety of others.