As we head towards the end of 2009, it is sobering to have been woken after Christmas with the news that another terrorist attempt had been made to bring down an airliner with hundreds of passengers on board in the USA.

I am sure many of us have asked ourselves how this could happen again, especially when one considers all the security checks we all face today before boarding an aircraft and also that there are millions of people throughout the world on no fly lists or on watch lists, including 23 year old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, son of a wealthy Nigerian, who tried to set off an explosive substance that had been strapped to his leg.

The sad part about all this is that the terrorists and especially Al Qaeda appear to be a step ahead of the authorities and I have often wondered about all these rather pathetic checks to take a pair of tweezers, nail clippers or scissors off a passenger, when in reality, the terrorists have moved on well beyond that stage and security checks have clearly become inadequate.

In addition, I reckon that if these crazy people are determine to take down and aircraft, then they are not going to do it with a pair of scissors, tweezers or nail clippers and there are more than enough bits and pieces on board the aircraft they could use if they are so determined.

The facts are also that none of the security checks currently in place would have picked up the items that Abdulmutallab had strapped to his legs, as it is reported that they were made of substances that would not have been picked up in an arch designed to pick up metallic substances and also they were not in his hand luggage.

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack, but as Ch 7 terrorism specialist Keith Souter said this morning, Al Qaeda has become franchised throughout the world, with more attacks on Western targets to come.

The USA has admitted that its security and intelligence organisations had failed in allowing Abdulmutallab to come close to achieving success in blowing up the Delta /Northwest flight over Detroit, conceding that despite having spent billions, the system had failed to respond to alerts about Abdulmutallab, as had airport security in Nigeria and Amsterdam failing to pick up that he was carrying a bomb.

The most amazing part of the authorities’ failure is that Abdulmutallab was on terrorist watch list in the UK, was barred from entering the UK, yet even though is father had advised Nigerian and US authorities about his son’s increasing radicalism, the USA still granted him a visa to visit the USA – I bet that are many Americans questioning that decision today!

With Australia having just announced a relaxation in the rules about what passengers can carry on board an aircraft and while I l believe that most of that was inadequate in the first place, the USA has announced that it is increasing security on flights to and from the USA, with passengers limited to one carry on bag, every passenger receiving a body pat down search and manual bag searches in a second stage security check, on many flights the TV display showing the location of the aircraft being switched off and passengers having remain seated with no items on their laps for the last hour of the flight.

Let’s tray and be a step ahead of these crazy people by immediately introducing these measure on all international flights everywhere and especially in and out of Australia.

I most certainly do not have any objections whatsoever to the introduction of this or any other security checks or searches by authorities anywhere, including in Australia, that prevent people like Abdulmutallab getting on board a flight, ensuring that we can all continue to exercise our freedom and inalienable right to travel anywhere in the world in absolute safety.

An Industry Insider Special Report by John Alwyn-Jones, e-Travel Blackboard Special Correspondent.