The events of September 11, 2001 in America made many countries think about strengthening the security of airspace. In a critical situation, when a civilian aircraft seized by terrorists could be directed by the hijackers at vital facilities, a legislative basis is needed for the possibility of its physical destruction.
Defending his draft law in the government, German Defense Minister Peter Struck presented the following arguments. The extreme measure can be taken only when preliminary measures, such as offering the hijackers to land and warning shots, have no effect. Only after that will military pilots open fire to kill. The defense minister briefly outlined the procedure for officials in a critical case. Upon receiving a signal about the hijacking of an aircraft, a squadron of the so-called "alert aviation" will take off within 8 minutes. Within a quarter of an hour it can reach any point in Germany's airspace. After determining the intentions of the terrorists and establishing that the hijacked aircraft is to be used as a weapon of destruction, it will be destroyed by military means.
The Minister of the Interior Otto Schily also supported the Defense Minister: "Now there will be necessary legislative guarantees for everyone... The law creates legal clarity for pilots... and is by no means a license to kill." It means, of course, the killing of civilian passengers who had the misfortune to end up on a plane with terrorists.
After the bill was approved by the Bundestag, it came into force. Now the German air defense formations will have to track all routes of passenger aircraft – potential targets of terrorists. And before that, the personnel will undergo special technical and psychological training: it is not so easy for a pilot to open fire to kill, knowing that innocent people are sitting in the plane!
The examination of the validity of this law in the German Constitutional Court began with a hearing of the Interior Minister Otto Schily. By the way, this year Schily received the ironic prize "Big Brother 2005" for "the thoughtless introduction, without Parliament's approval, of biometric passports with insufficiently tested technology, as well as for his contributions to expanding the structure of European control to the detriment of citizens' rights and freedoms." He told the court that the law on airspace security provides for a theoretical rather than practical possibility of destroying a civilian aircraft used by terrorists as a weapon of destruction. The judges were critical of such a statement. Next is the questioning of other authors of the bill. It is reported that the Constitutional Court will make its final decision next year. In the meantime, the Ministry of Defense is carrying out security and precautionary measures.
Viktor FISHMAN.
Russkaya Germania