by CHAD TRAUTVETTER
According to NBAA, the Transportation Security Administration is pushing to issue a new proposed business aircraft security program by year-end. The TSA told the association that the new proposal will be “markedly different” from the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) released in October 2008. That proposal was skewered by the business aviation community, which charged that the TSA is oblivious as to how this segment operates.
The new proposal, which will not be called LASP, still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget before being published for public comment. “TSA heard our concerns about the most egregious elements of the original LASP proposal,” said Doug Carr, NBAA vice president for safety, security and regulation. Those concerns included the low aircraft weight threshold (12,500 pounds); the prohibited items list, which would have prevented companies from carrying tools and other items related to their business; and the requirements for third-party auditors and armed security guards onboard business airplanes, even when passengers are well known by crews.
Carr expects the new proposal to have a “trusted pilot” element, since this appears in all of the TSA’s other security programs. He said he also understands that the new proposal will reflect more of a risk-based approach to security.
Source: Aviation International News
Date: 2011-10-25