TEL AVIV — An Israeli security firm is designing an aircraft that is immune to hijacking. Israel's Athena GS3 Security Implementations is drafting designs and methods for a European aircraft that could not be commandeered by intruders.
Athena, founded in 1996 by former Mossad director Shabtai Shavit, has been deemed a major participant in the European Union's Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment, or SAFEE.
SAFEE, launched in 2004, was meant to last through 2007. The $45.7 million project, which also includes Airbus, EADS, BAE Systems, Siemens and Thales, has been financed through a $25 million grant by the European Commission.
"The goals of our projects are just for a design, and at the end of the project, there will be a system that's workable," Athena chief operations officer Omer Laviv said. "Then, I presume and I hope that it will start a new phase of implementation."
Laviv, a former chief security officer at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, said Athena's effort was based on a scenario in which a person boarded an aircraft with either a weapon or bomb. The company has been participating in SAFEE programs to design software to detect suspicious passenger behavior at the airline counter or a collision avoidance system to prevent a suicide hijacker from deliberately crashing the aircraft.
Athena and its partners would meet their deadline to draft a design for a non-hijackable plane, Laviv said. He said the companies would develop a prototype during a second stage.
"The goals of our projects are just for a design, and at the end of the project, there will be a system that's workable," Laviv told the Israel21c website. "Then, I presume and I hope that it will start a new phase of implementation
