Lecture on Airline Safety at Chateau Malou

Event of Interest 

^{Airline Security}

^{Behind the headlines of  "Black Swan" events} 

Hosted by ISG

The International Study Group (ISG) hosts monthly lectures on topics of interest. In October its regarding Airline Security and "Black Swan" events.  

After 29 years in the UK Foreign Office, William Sandover joined BA as its International Risk Adviser, responsible for analyzing the geo-political threats (including war, terrorism, civil disruption etc.) to the company, its staff and its airlines.  In 2017, William assumed a Consultancy role as Cathay Pacific’s Independent Security Adviser and since 2024 also advises Inigo Insurance on War Risk.  In the course of these roles, William has gained a substantial degree of understanding on the risks airlines face in deciding where they fly to and which routes they use.  William was also chair of the Global Business Travel Association’s European Travel Risk Committee.

Incidents in which passenger planes disappear from the radar where the cause remains unknown are thankfully rare.  In many cases, these get the reputation of a Black Swan event, or out of the blue and inevitably garner considerable attention.   In this presentation William will look at the main cases that have occurred since 1983 when KAL007 was shot down over Russia and the underlying geo-political tensions which made such events more likely.   He will also offer (other people’s) expert views on MH390, German Wings and the Air India crash.

Recently European airports have faced a wave of disruptions with coordinated incidents involving drone incursions and cyberattacks that have exposed weaknesses in both physical and digital aviation security systems making this talk a very topical issue of concern. 

Free parking on two sides of the Chateau.  Bus and tram accessible.

Price is 15 Euros, payable in cash upon arrival. 

NB: Black Swan is a metaphor that describes the disproportionate role of high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations.