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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With David Evans
Aired November 08, 2003 - 18:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So what can be done to protect planes from terrorists? David Evans is from "Air Safety Week," and he joins us now from Washington. David, would you say that this is a real threat to commercial aircraft?
DAVID EVANS, "AIR SAFETY WEEK': If you had asked me a couple of years ago I would have ruled it out. But this month last year recall we had the two missiles launched at the Israeli chartered jet at Mombasa. That marked the first time that these deadly weapons were used in a non-war zone against a commercial airliner.
LIN: So does a commercial airliner or a pilot have any technological options to protect that plane?
EVANS: Well, right now they are not equipped with defensive systems like military aircraft so maybe some abrupt maneuvers. But these airplanes are really designed for abrupt, evasive maneuvers clearly.
LIN: So what are the options out there to protect these jets then?
EVANS: Well, the options are to equip or not to equip the airplanes with some sort of a high-tech missile defense system. The Department of Homeland Security briefed industry about two weeks ago on what it is looking for. Contractors are going to be submitting their bids, their proposed ideas the first week in December. And by Christmas time the Department of Homeland Security plans to issue at least two contracts for $2 million each to explore the technologies that can be adopted off-the-shelf to protect commercial airliners.
LIN: How much to do you think it would cost to outfit a single jet?
EVANS: The contractors are talking somewhere between $1 and $2 million. Depending on how many airplanes, the more you do the lower you can get the costs so we are looking ultimately around $1 million per airplane for a wide body jet.
LIN: What do you think that is going to do to airfare? I know you are not an economist but surely the costs would be passed. And I am wondering do you think it's pragmatic? Is it necessary?
EVANS: Well, I think in terms of who is going to pay and what the costs are, right now I would suspect that the government is gong to pay for the initial installation parts and the software and so on. LIN: All right, thank you very much. David Evans with an air safety expert opinion on what needs to be done for commercial jets.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 8, 2003 - 18:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So what can be done to protect planes from terrorists? David Evans is from "Air Safety Week," and he joins us now from Washington. David, would you say that this is a real threat to commercial aircraft?
DAVID EVANS, "AIR SAFETY WEEK': If you had asked me a couple of years ago I would have ruled it out. But this month last year recall we had the two missiles launched at the Israeli chartered jet at Mombasa. That marked the first time that these deadly weapons were used in a non-war zone against a commercial airliner.
LIN: So does a commercial airliner or a pilot have any technological options to protect that plane?
EVANS: Well, right now they are not equipped with defensive systems like military aircraft so maybe some abrupt maneuvers. But these airplanes are really designed for abrupt, evasive maneuvers clearly.
LIN: So what are the options out there to protect these jets then?
EVANS: Well, the options are to equip or not to equip the airplanes with some sort of a high-tech missile defense system. The Department of Homeland Security briefed industry about two weeks ago on what it is looking for. Contractors are going to be submitting their bids, their proposed ideas the first week in December. And by Christmas time the Department of Homeland Security plans to issue at least two contracts for $2 million each to explore the technologies that can be adopted off-the-shelf to protect commercial airliners.
LIN: How much to do you think it would cost to outfit a single jet?
EVANS: The contractors are talking somewhere between $1 and $2 million. Depending on how many airplanes, the more you do the lower you can get the costs so we are looking ultimately around $1 million per airplane for a wide body jet.
LIN: What do you think that is going to do to airfare? I know you are not an economist but surely the costs would be passed. And I am wondering do you think it's pragmatic? Is it necessary?
EVANS: Well, I think in terms of who is going to pay and what the costs are, right now I would suspect that the government is gong to pay for the initial installation parts and the software and so on. LIN: All right, thank you very much. David Evans with an air safety expert opinion on what needs to be done for commercial jets.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
