The bulletin was issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It said, "Violent extremists with knowledge of general aviation and access to small planes pose a significant potential threat to the Homeland."
The alert stated that there is no current information that supports an imminent attack being planned against small aircrafts. However, officials say that al Qaeda was considering options for targeting airplanes in early 2011. Matthew Chandler, DHS spokesman, said there is no specific intelligence about a possible attack using small planes and alerts are shared with law enforcement on "evolving tactics that could be used by violent extremists to carry out attacks against the United States."
The bulletin was issued to encourage awareness and caution.
Currently, there are approximately 230,000 general aviation planes at 4,000 airports across the United States. Signs reading, "Warning: Pilots Report All Suspicious Activities," are being used in airports to keep pilots vigilant and help monitor the possibility of violent extremists using small airplanes for terrorist activities.
The alert also listed several suggestions to prevent the misuse of small aircrafts, including:
• Securing aircrafts from the possibility of misuse;
• Verifying the identities of crew member and passengers on small airplanes;
• Staying aware and reporting anyone who could be pretending to be a pilot; and
• Reporting any airplanes that could be modified in an unusual or unauthorized way.
"They have sort of taken on this view of death by a thousand cuts, that if they try a lot of smaller attacks they are just as effective as the fear factor, so they really get more bang for their buck to do smaller attacks," said former FBI investigator Brad Garrett.
