AFA Participates in Commercial Aircraft Vulnerability and Mitigation Program Exercise
The Commercial Aircraft Vulnerability and Mitigation Program (CAVM) was established in 1990 in response to the directives of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism and the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990. The CAVM program was reiterated after September 11, 2001 in the Aviation Security and Transportation Act of 2001.
Members of AFA, ALPA, and Southwest Airlines attended an explosives testing exercise at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland on June 12 and 14, 2018, as part of CAVM supported by TSA and DHS.
AFA has participated in CAVM cabin-related security exercises from the early stages of testing, and plans to continue to offer input as it moves forward. The exercises provide data related to the threat of terrorist-based explosives on commercial aircraft in support of explosives threat detection requirements and countermeasures. Contemplated countermeasures related to an in-flight detonation include effective teamwork, communications, and strategies to help mitigate the potential for catastrophic structural or critical systems failure.
This is a follow-on activity to the TSA's 2017 rewriting and re-filming of the Least Risk Bomb Location (LRBL) Procedures video, which had been used in previous years by some air carriers for crewmember security training. The new TSA LRBL video is available to air carriers through each carrier's TSA/FAA security personnel.
Also in attendance with AFA, ALPA, and Southwest Airlines were representatives from DHS, TSA, and FAA.
