By Alain Vanalderweireldt

The terrorist acts against the EBBR departure hall were aimed at the public part of our airport. Whether they should have been anticipated and could have been avoided is an important question to protect our population against reoccurrences.

Our BeCA team is digging today into another important security concern: the issuance of airport badges to persons being monitored by one of the State Agencies (State Security, Military security, OICAD/OCAM, etc.).  In Belgium, as in any democratic state, an individual is recognised guilty only after a fair trial has been carried out, followed by conviction.

Being on a “watch list” from one of the government agencies does not mean you are about to commit a terrorist act. But how far can we still be complacent? Shouldn’t we apply the “principle of precaution”? But isn’t this what radicalists are awaiting from us to loudly complain against discrimination? Keeping in mind that not being granted an airport badge makes the airport job inaccessible.

There are no black & white answers to these questions, but pilots as front operators have also a role to play in airside security awareness. BeCA is therefore launching a SEC Working Group. Pilot members with former Justice/PD background are welcome to contact our office staff.