The article analyzes the challenges facing the security of civil aviation in the context of countering terrorism. Such challenges, which unite different sciences at the present stage, include the issue of multifaceted countering of terrorist threats. The peculiarity of such threats is that terrorism is currently an interstate phenomenon. Mechanisms of particular importance include the issue of universal jurisdiction. The article analyzes real cases of investigation of criminal offenses in the field of civil aviation, in situations where different countries have jurisdiction over these violations. Keywords: aviation security, terroristic risk, jurisdictional mechanisms, universal jurisdiction.