Juggling the Issue of Smuggling in Aviation

     Smuggling has become a large issue in the aviation field, since aviation is such a quick way to transport goods from long distances, whether it be over airlines or through shipment services. Shipment services often utilize dogs to detect illegal substances, while airlines use scanners to analyze luggage (Saduluski, 2024; Clapper, slide 18). This is a progressive step towards reduction of smuggling, however this only addresses the issue of commercial flight, not including private flights/flights owned by private aircraft. My recommendation is to have baggage (even from private aircraft) documented or scanned at an airport. I believe even a simple scan or just checking luggage in general would be a great step towards reducing smuggling among private aircraft.

References

Clapper, Kalen. (2025). Aviation Security [Powerpoint Slides].

Dr. Jarrod Sadulski. (2024, June 5). Drug Trafficking in the United States by Using the Mail. Apus.edu; American Military University (AMU). https://www.amu.apus.edu/area-of-study/homeland-security/resources/drug-trafficking-in-the-united-states-by-using-the-mail/

‌

Comments

  1. Hangar Desk DiariesNovember 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM

    Smuggling affects aviation from both policy and operational sides. The strain on inspection teams shows how human limits shape real outcomes. The connection between passenger behavior and system pressure also matters and your post makes the issue easy to understand without losing the seriousness of the topic.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Hot Topic: The Risk of Heat Waves and Aircraft Performance

Image
      Over the years, there has been a steady trend of increasing temperatures in the summers, displaying harsher conditions and hotter days. As the colder months begin to pass and the warm weather approaches, the issue of high temperatures reducing aircraft performance presents itself. With high temperature, the density altitude increases, meaning decreased performance. Density altitude takes into account pressure (with increasing pressure lowering density altitude), and temperature (increasing temperature increasing density altitude) (Cutler, 2025).       Thus, low pressure and high temperature conditions create a high density altitude. The way an aircraft's wings work is the air is the air above the wing is moving faster than the air below it, and the pressure below the wing is greater than above it, giving it the ability to lift off the ground (scienceworld, n.d.)      With lower air pressure, this therefore reduces the lift, as ther...
Read more

Sustainable or Restrainable? The Environmental Concern within the Aviation Industry

  When it comes to ethics, the first thing that comes to mind for me is sustainability. Ethics is defined as a set of moral values or obligations, and it is our moral obligation to maintain sustainable practice in aviation. The Clean Air Act (CAA) addresses the emission of pollutants from areas of concern, including aircraft, to reduce damage to the environment as much as possible (EPA 2025). This greatly benefits pilots and the population in general. By regulating toxic emissions, this can reduce the damage done to pilots, who are frequently exposed to these chemicals and substances, and the population, especially those near airports, who inhales the same air. By reducing the amount of damage done, pilots are following their moral obligation to reduce harm to themselves and those around them, by creating an ethical and sustainable practice.  With aviation consistently growing in this world as technology progresses, it is important now, more than ever, to be the turning point ...
Read more