Flights to Israel buckle up amid Hezbollah threats

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is requiring that passengerson all incoming flights be confined to their seats in thehalf-hour before landing as part of heightened precautionsagainst hijacking, aviation security sources said on Friday.

They said the Transport Ministry order, issued to local andforeign airlines on Wednesday, cited threats by LebaneseHezbollah guerrillas to avenge the February 12 assassination oftheir operations chief by waging "open war" against the Jewishstate.

"Our new policy is that planes lock their flight-deck doorsand activate the 'please fasten seat belts' signs when 180miles (290 km) away from Israel," one Israeli security sourcesaid.

"It's a precaution against hijackers storming the cockpitin the final approach, given the current terrorist threatlevel," the source said, adding that previously it was up tothe airlines to decide when to ask passengers to remain seated.

The Transport Ministry had no immediate comment.

Israel has dramatically stepped up security measures sinceImad Moughniyah, Hezbollah's military mastermind, died in aDamascus car bombing last week. Hezbollah and its patron Iranblamed Israel for the killing, though Israel deniedinvolvement.

The new Israeli aviation security standards may remain inforce even if Hezbollah's threats of reprisals are not be borneout and the recent alert level is lowered, sources said.

Israel last year began requiring that all pilots who fly toits airports use the Security Code System (SCS), a localinvention designed to ensure any plane commandeered for an alQaeda-style ramming attack is spotted and intercepted in time.

On most flights, which approach Israel from the west,pilots equipped with the SCS must enter a personalised,technologically secured code when 180 miles out, so that airtraffic controllers in Tel Aviv know the cockpit is in theright hands.

Aviation experts have suggested that hijackers could waitfor SCS compliance to have been established before striking.Keeping passengers seated until landing would help diminishsuch a threat, an Israeli security source said.

"The new regulations are definitely linked to ourintroduction of the SCS," the source said.

Since the al Qaeda attacks of Sept 11, 2001, the UnitedStates has instituted mandatory pre-landing seating regulationsfor flights to some of its airports. There are also U.S, rulesagainst incoming passengers congregating in plane aisles.