Acts of violence against civilian aircraft, passengers and airline facilities have been exploited by terrorists since at least 1931. This form of international terrorism is more than an attack on the rights of the innocent and the rule of law. It constitutes a great threat to global peace. As escalating threats to civil aviation have caused great concern to the entire international community, governments and the civil aviation industry have introduced security measures.

However, the forces of law have failed to keep ahead of advancing threats. As hijacking has become more difficult, terrorists have adopted new tactics, such as sabotage bombing. Thus, while the 1960s and the 1970s were the age of aircraft hijackings, the 1980s could be said to be the age of sabotage bomb attacks in civil aviation history

1. What comes next? The most important general lesson to be learned from the recent history of aviation is never again to allow terrorists to get so far ahead of the world's aviation security industry. To achieve this aim, instead of reacting to terrorist attacks, the emphasis of all parties involved in civil aviation must change so as to anticipate, pre-empt, and preclude them.