Thursday, November 18, 2010

Airline Security

This is a nice point from Megan McArdle on the current value of airline security procedures:

Somehow, this seems like a questionable reaction to two attacks that failed. Especially since they failed for the same reason that any similar attack is likely to fail: the amount of explosives you can smuggle in your underwear or shoes is necessarily small, meaning that you need to be in the cabin to detonate them if you want to be sure that you'll bring the plane down. And it's really hard to set your underwear, or your shoes, on fire without your fellow passengers noticing. In Asia, I've never been required to have my shoes scanned--not even to get on a US bound flight. And yet, we have not been confronted with a rash of exploding planes out of Taipei or Saigon.


I am forced to fly a lot for work and I have the misfortune of living far away from family. Yet I would gladly never fly again if I could arrange it. It's really become a miserable process. At some point one really would like to avoid the whole mess.

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