The world after September 11th will never feel the same. The series of events that have followed after that tragic day that left the United States crippled by terror have also left passengers around the globe wary to travel. As technology advances, so to does the ability to be attacked by it. Commercial airliners above all else continue looking for the best means to keep their commuters safe. Even now, with all of the precautions taken, the threat still remains.
One threat, a phantasmal lurking force, can come from our own electronic devices. Electronic emissions have the potential of becoming a danger to the aircraft, and now have grown into a real issue that airliners must address after the events of September 11th. The threat of an attack from a high energy electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has become a authentic worry that airliners now face after September 11th.
The threat from a high energy electrometric pulse comes from the problems they cause in the aircraft and computer systems controlling them. Under normal circumstances an EMP usually occurs with the burst of a nuclear weapon, but advanced technology has harnessed that power into machinery now as well.
In Air Safety Week, they note that, “Although a [EMP] device can be built for about $5,000, Schriner adds that knowledge of pulse-power technology would be needed (and the rudiments are available on the Internet).
The Essay on Electromagnetic Pulse Emp Effects Field
Electromagnetic Pulse has been known of since the 1940's when nuclear weapons were being trialed and produced. Yet, due to the lack of sufficient data the exact effects of EMP were not fully known until 1962. During this time a series of tests were being conducted which were code named 'Fishbowl'. "An electromagnetic pulse consists of a broadband, high intensity, short duration burst of ...
An improved version of his demonstration device, with a tenfold increase in power, would hurl 1,000 high-energy pulses per second at its target.” That sounds scary enough, yet the author of the article goes on to tell readers that only one or two of those pulses would have ample effect to cause major disruptions in the flight control systems.
Consequentially if laptops (which have normally low emissions) need to have approval, airliners can only imagine the devastation that would come into effect from a device a thousand times more powerful. Not to mention that modified “weapon” laptops, with more powerful emissions will look exactly like their safe counterparts. If these items made it onto the plane how would airliners ever know? These questions, especially after September 11th, have given commercial airliners a lot to consider.
References
Airliners May Be Vulnerable to High-Energy Electromagnetic Pulse Attack. (1999, September 13).
Retrieved online May 9, 2006, from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UBT/is_37_13/ai_55745847
