Aviation Security in the United States

The crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York on July 17, 1996 prompted an ambitious program to upgrade aviation security in America. The initial circumstances of the crash suggested that the plane had been brought down by a terrorist bomb or, some suggested, a missile. Nearly a year after the event investigators concluded that mechanical failure was the more likely cause of the crash. Flight 800 apart, many observers felt at the time that substantial improvements were long overdue if only to bring American security in line with that in Europe. New security measures were recommended by a White House Commission that, when fully implemented, will lead to the most significant increase in aviation security since the adoption of full passenger screening in the early 1970s.