The Guardia Civil has launched a flight security escort unit (Unesev), a type of unit known internationally as ‘air marshalls’, which will operate in Spain on both domestic and international flights.
The function of these agents is to provide a police response to incidents that could put civil aviation security at risk.
The unit was presented today during the meeting of the International Committee of Flight Safety Officers, which is being held in Palma until 20 October, with representatives from Canada (which holds the presidency), Germany, Australia, Austria, Holland, India, Israel, Czech Republic, Romania, Singapore, Switzerland and Vietnam.
Flight security escorts travel inside the aircraft and their job is to respond to any threat that could seriously jeopardise the safety of the flight.
They are trained in self-defence, operational intervention tactics, knowledge of the aviation environment, behavioural analysis, negotiation, first aid and English.
In addition, they are also trained to maintain aircraft stability and to follow control instructions in the event that the pilot and co-pilot are unable to remain at the controls.
The flights to which these marshalls will be assigned will be decided on the basis of risk assessment.
Over the last five years, the Guardia Civil airport units at Madrid and Barcelona airports have coordinated and received an average of 7,500 flight escorts from other countries.
During the presentation, the government delegate in the Balearics, Aina Calvo, stressed the importance for the Balearics of having a unit of this type, given that the economy is “highly dependent on air traffic”.
The deputy operational director of the Guardia Civil, Lieutenant General Pablo Salas, indicated that this unit has already been deployed on 20 Spanish flights, including the first international service on the Madrid-Berlin route during the NATO summit in Spain and a flight in October with John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Salas also expressed his satisfaction that the unit “represents the culmination of a demanding training process”.