Honouring the victims of 9/11: A global commitment to making aviation safer

Honouring the victims of 9/11: A global commitment to making aviation safer
Toshiyuki Onuma, President of the ICAO Council
Juan Carlos Salazar, ICAO Secretary General

We must honour the victims of the 9/11 attacks – the 2,977 innocent people killed that day and the uncountable number of others who have also suffered then and now in immeasurable ways – by ensuring nothing like this can happen again. This was ICAO’s resolve in the immediate aftermath of that tragic day, and this commitment remains just as strong and vital today as it was then.

The attacks of 11 September 2001 revealed a shift in the global threat environment that the aviation security community had to swiftly address. 

Existing treaties, including Tokyo, The Hague, and Montréal Conventions, had been conceived to mitigate the risk posed by security events like hijacking and sabotage. Within two weeks of the attacks, 169 countries met at the International Civil Aviation Organization at its Headquarters in Montréal and adopted a unanimous Assembly Resolution condemning the use of aircraft as weapons and pledging urgent international cooperation to prevent future acts of terrorism against civil aviation.

This eventually led to the preparation and adoption of two new treaties: the Beijing Convention and Protocol of 2010. These instruments criminalized new vectors of attack, covered biological and chemical threats, and targeted organizers and financiers. They also improved mechanisms for cross-border cooperation, investigation and extradition, and addressed early signs of cyber vulnerability.

ICAO and its Member States also adjusted the technical and regulatory framework governed by the 1944 Chicago Convention and its Annexes. A new global security plan set strategic priorities to help Member States structure and align their efforts in strengthening aviation security worldwide, and the ICAO Universal Security Audit Programme was launched to monitor their implementation and provide assistance where needed.

International treaties and technical Standards are only as good as their effective implementation by States.

While treaties from the 1970s have achieved near-universal ratification, unfortunately fewer than a third of ICAO’s Member States have ratified the Beijing Convention and Protocol. Broad adherence to these new treaties is paramount to ensure legal frameworks keep pace with shifting risks, and this is consequently a major focus of ICAO’s advocacy.

Other United Nations entities specialized in counter-terrorism and crime have helped embed aviation security within the wider counter-terrorism architecture.

This architecture includes United Nations Security Council Resolutions calling on States to work with ICAO to secure their airports and flights and requiring States to collect and use Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record data to detect and disrupt the travel of terrorist fighters. These obligations are reflected in ICAO’s own standards and guidance material. The same cooperation is now directed at new and prominent threats, foremost among them the terrorist use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

We must be clear-eyed about the fact that constant review is needed as threats rapidly evolve. Cybersecurity, insider threats, and misuse of UAS are among the dynamics presenting novel regulatory and operational challenges, but they are not the only ones. In parallel, navigation interference, supply chain breaches, and risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones require flexible responses, as do other types of disruption.

We also need to recognize that not all States are able to meet international Standards. This affects everyone, because gaps in one jurisdiction risk ripple effects throughout the system.

Improving capability demands sustained investment in training, expertise and technology, as well as independent oversight. That is why ICAO undertakes mandatory auditing of its Member States while offering capacity building support to resolve issues. We also remain fully committed to on-going and evidence-based reform, including the retirement of rules as they become outdated.

The current security framework comes from years of multilateral adjustment and remains a work in progress. And despite the very significant progress we have achieved, this framework must continue to advance as we strive to prevent all loss of life.

ICAO firmly believes that this aspiration is possible. Even as the number of flights and passengers continue to grow at a breathtaking pace, aviation security continues to improve worldwide. That is why our strategic vision for 2050 – for the next 25 years of flight – foresees air transport for all, aiming for zero fatalities and net zero carbon emissions.

Eliminating fatalities from unlawful acts of interference in civil aviation requires continuous and robust levels of cooperation among governments and their agencies, business leaders across the entire air transport industry and its connected sectors, and through the United Nations system and other international organizations, including ICAO.

Achieving this goal will be the highest honour we can offer the victims of 9/11 and of all attacks against civil aviation worldwide.