Transportation - US

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to possible risks of travel due to increased terrorist threats.

travel.state.gov - November 23, 2015

Current information suggests that ISIL (aka Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions.  These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.  This Travel Alert expires on February 24, 2016.

Authorities believe the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of ISIL/Da’esh return from Syria and Iraq.  Additionally, there is a continuing threat from unaffiliated persons planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations but conducted on an individual basis.  Extremists have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, and aviation services.  In the past year, there have been multiple attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Turkey, and Mali.  ISIL/Da’esh has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt. 

This Feb. 17, 2015 file photo, shows a train derailment that sent a tanker with crude oil into the Kanawha River near Mount Carbon, W.Va. As investigators in West Virginia and Ontario pick through the wreckage from the latest pair of oil train derailments to result in massive fires, U.S. transportation officials predict many more catastrophic wrecks involving flammable fuels in coming years absent new regulations. (AP Photo/Chris Tilley,File)

nola.com - AP - by Matthew Brown and Josh Funk - February 23, 2015

BILLINGS, Mont. -- The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S.

The projection comes from a previously unreported analysis by the Department of Transportation that reviewed the risks of moving vast quantities of both fuels across the nation and through major cities. The study completed last July took on new relevance this week after a train loaded with crude derailed in West Virginia, sparked a spectacular fire and forced the evacuation of hundreds of families.

A study projects up to three Ebola-infected people could be on overseas flights each month from the three most-affected African countries. WSJ's Gautam Naik reports. Photo: Getty

CLICK HERE - The Lancet - Assessment of the potential for international dissemination of Ebola virus via commercial air travel during the 2014 west African outbreak

wsj.com - by Gautam Naik - Oct. 20, 2014

Up to three Ebola-infected people could embark on overseas flights every month from the three most-affected African countries, according to a new study that projected travel patterns based on infection rates and recent flight schedules.

The findings, published Monday in the journal Lancet, suggest that Ebola cases could be spread overseas by unwitting travelers from the worst-hit countries—Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization has estimated that, by early December, there could be as many as 10,000 new cases a week in west Africa.

At LAX and other U.S. airports, CDC quarantine officers are on alert, looking for infected passengers.

abc7.com - by Robert Holguin - August 1, 2014

At Los Angeles International Airport and other U.S. airports, CDC quarantine officers are on alert, looking for infected passengers. . .

. . . The CDC operates quarantine stations at airports across the U.S., including at Los Angeles International Airport, to respond to reports of illness or death.

Officers are trained to spot symptoms of Ebola, and anyone who departs from a flight from an affected country and appears to have symptoms would be tested. If they test positive, they would be rushed to a hospital and quarantined.

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