Pilots back new system for screening passengers

Leaders of the 7,000 British airline pilots will today back a new security system for preventing terrorists and potentially disruptive passengers boarding flights.

Government officials will be urged by the British Air Line Pilots' Association (Balpa) to adopt new equipment that can alert airport staff to "undesirables" as they check in. The Matchmaker system, which checksa database of potential troublemakers, has been developed by QinetiQ, a research company that is a privatised part of the former government Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.

The system involves passengers' passports being electronically swiped as soon as they check in and the information passed to a database. If the person concerned is considered undesirable a message will flash on to a screen at the check-in desk advising staff on their response. For the most serious cases, numbers will be provided so that armed police can be called. For less serious cases it might advise, for example, that passengers who may make a nuisance of themselves should be allowed on the flight but not allowed to drink.

As a back-up procedure, the information from the passport is also recorded on the boarding card given to the passenger so that it cannot be passed to somebody else. It means that the passenger's identity can be checked on computer screens at any part of the airport.

Captain Ian Hibberd, who chairs Balpa's security committee, said: "The place to stop would-be terrorists or disruptive passengers is on the ground, not in the air. The Matchmaker system can significantly improve air safety."

Governments, airlines, police forces and other agencies will be able to feed into the database details of any passengers who have been disruptive, involved in "air rage" incidents or associated with terrorism. The company is already testing the procedure at two unnamed airlines.

Representatives from Balpa are currently involved in an official review of security at airports and on planes. Among the measures under discussion are reinforced doors to stop terrorists getting on to the flight deck, and armed air marshals, as used by the Israeli airline El Al. It is known, however, that Balpa would oppose any attempt to arm pilots – a move suggested by the American Air Line Pilots' Association. A spokesman for the British union said: "It's more a part of American culture."