1988: Airport security hit the news on August 3, 1988, with the headline, 'Tough new measures coming'. Errol Anderson, the then minister for national security, announced that new actions were being taken to "strangle drug smuggling" at Jamaica's top two airports. Incoming measures at the Norman Manley and Sangster airports included the withdrawal of security passes from non-essential holders. This included the retrieval of passes from certain foreign diplomats, leaving only those with "solid reasons" access to certain areas. Security measures involving employees were also to be heightened, with persons in key positions subject to random lie detector tests. Surveillance in the form of cameras and patrols on the roads in and out of the airports were also to be implemented.

1989: On April 8, The Gleaner ran the story 'Airport security angers travellers'. The piece reported that outgoing passengers, particularly those on Air Jamaica, felt humiliated by new security measures. These included being subject to body searches, sniffer dogs and baggage sifting, as well as being intimidated by the large military presence.

1997: July 11 saw the headline 'Anti-harassment measures showing results'. New security measures had resulted in the arrests of 22 "pimps, touts and illegal taxi drivers" and the impounding of 75 vehicles over a period of two weeks. Security improvements included the involvement of the Port Security Corps and the training of a specialised anti-harassment team.

2001: On September 14, the headline 'Local airports tighten security' appeared. The article detailed how Jamaican airports have banned the carrying of "knives, icepicks and other instruments considered harmful" in line with new US Federal Aviation Authority directives. Dr Peter Phillips, the then minister of transport and works, said: "We need to ensure we have tightened safety here. A lot of the new measures will be permanent."

2003: A 'Year in Review' article on January 5, headlined 'Security strengthened at ports and Sangster divestment completed', described the spending of US$100 million on new security features at the country's ports of entry. This included more than $1 billion being spent on 12 new X-ray machines.

It's happened before

In January 1974, local media reported that an Air Jamaica DC-9 aircraft destined for Detroit left the Norman Manley International Airport three hours and 45 minutes late because of an attempted hijacking by a 17-year-old Cuban. The Cuban youth had hijacked the aeroplane using a piece of wood covered in cloth as his weapon.

There had been three earlier aeroplane hijackings on the island.