Please return to your seat: Israeli anti-hijack measure
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel has ordered airlines to require passengers to return to their seats sooner than in the past before landing as a precaution against would-be hijackers, the transport ministry said on Friday.
The measure follows the assassination last week of a top commander of Hezbollah, Imad Mughnieh. The Lebanese Shiite militant group blamed the killing on Israel and has threatened reprisals.
Israel has denied any involvement, but is taking no chances and has been beefing up security at home and abroad.
The transport ministry has ordered all airlines to have passengers in their seats from a distance of about 290 kilometres (180 miles), or half an hour, from the Israeli coast, ministry spokeswoman Ora Salomon said.
Until now passengers were asked to sit and fasten their seat belts only when the plane was about 150 kilometres, or 15 minutes, from shore.
Yediot Aharonot newspaper said "it was feared terrorists would infiltrate a plane and try to take it over only in the last stage of the flight, upon entering Israeli airspace.
"The closer this takeover is to Israel's shores, the harder it will be for the security forces to react quickly," Yediot said.
It quoted a flight expert as saying "even scrambling combat jets takes a few minutes, and the last stage of the flight is therefore the most critical."
Not only will passengers have to be in their places sooner, so will the pilots, who will be required to lock themselves in the cockpit earlier.
Since last week's death of Mughnieh in a Damascus car bombing, Israel has begun stepping up security at home and abroad, fearing reprisals from Hezbollah, which it battled in a devastating war in 2006.
It has already tightened security at its embassies, consulates and foreign offices of the Jewish Agency, which deals with immigration, and warned citizens abroad to take extra precautions.
