Guest b52er Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Security-sensitive flight manual offered on eBay Air Canada investigating: Contains information on hijacking, passenger lists Tom Blackwell National Post Saturday, February 15, 2003 An Air Canada flight operations manual was put up for auction. ADVERTISEMENT Air Canada is investigating the appearance on eBay yesterday of a flight operations manual of the sort that typically contains information on hijacking procedures, cockpit door keys and computer retrieval of flight plans and passenger lists. Pilots' manuals such as the one posted on the Internet auction site also have instructions on flying into Ronald Reagan airport in Washington, D.C., one of the most tightly controlled airline routes in the world, said a pilot familiar with the document. EBay, whose site contained a listing for the manual and for a full set of Air Canada flight charts, shut down the sale yesterday afternoon after being contacted by the airline. "We take this matter very, very seriously," said Laura Cooke, an Air Canada spokeswoman. "Protecting the safety and security of our operation is our number-one priority, so obviously we have concerns." She said the airline's security personnel were working through eBay to try to retrieve the documents, which Air Canada considers to be company property. An internal investigation is also underway into who was selling the manual and how the seller obtained it, Ms. Cooke said. The company is talking to Transport Canada about how to prevent similar incidents occurring in future. The flight operations manual is a comprehensive guide for pilots and other operations crew. The one advertised on eBay is described as a 2002 edition. "This manual is in mint condition. It was never used. This is a captain's edition, and covers every aspect of the operation of an aircraft," the auction listing said. "The index topics are intro, bulletins, qualifications, flight operations, rules and procedures, operations and emergencies." One pilot in the Air Canada system, who asked not to be named, quoted a company bulletin that says it is illegal to "disclose any information on security measures contained in [the manual] ... to unauthorized persons: passengers, friends etc." When security pages are replaced by updated information, the old ones should be destroyed, the bulletin says. The manuals include information on procedures to be followed during hijackings and bomb threats, policies regarding access to cockpits that are now kept locked at most times and information on who has keys for the cockpit door, said the pilot. The section dealing with flying into the Washington airport contains the warning that "this security information is extremely sensitive and should be kept confidential," the crew member said. The manual also has instructions on how to retrieve flight plans and passenger lists using the airline's computers, which would reveal the seat number of the flight marshals stationed on some Canadian and American airliners, said the pilot EBay decided to shut down the sale after being contacted by Canadian authorities, said Kevin Pursglove, a spokesman for the company in San Jose, Calif. The company will offer any item that can be legally sold, but is sensitive to concerns from law-enforcement authorities and others that something might be a security risk, he said. Nevertheless, part of the attraction of the service is that anyone can post material on eBay for sale, without undergoing advance scrutiny, Mr. Pursglove said. "Our users would revolt if we were to suggest we would screen out items that we considered inappropriate, he said. tblackwell@nationalpost.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 b52er; Look...its bad enough for the security of our entire industry that someone tried to sell this document for money. And its even worse when the dumb newspapers make money broadcasting exactly what's in the manual to even more people than its reached already by this fiasco. But posts that reproduce the newspaper story once again for the entire anonymous world to see and perhaps use is irresponsible and I think the post should be deleted. Nobody here needs to know that information and it is now freely given to those who might now try to obtain information in other ways. Don't we get it, folks? Why hand our enemies - those who used our industry as weapons of terror - the very information which can help those enemies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest b52er Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 What is so irresponsible about posting articles that are written about our industry as articles of interest as opposed to always reading posts slagging and insulting various groups of individuals. Are you saying all articles written about our industry and posted on this site should be censored? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest b52er Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Don; Deleted as the article has already been posted yesterday further down on the postings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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