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Passengers on a British Airways flight recently had a nasty fright when they
heard an announcement warning of an imminent crash. A patent from Vidair
Avionics of Germany (WO 99/6275) proposes a surveillance system that could avoid
people setting off this kind of false alarm and also deter hijackers. Video
cameras are hidden throughout an aircraft to watch over sensitive areas. The
pictures are fed to a central processor, which stores the images. The processor
continually checks for any movement in the sensitive areas, sounding a crew
alarm if anything suspicious occurs. At the same time, it transmits the images
to any airport within range.