Terror Plot Foiled

Sleepy · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:39

A5H said:
Dunno if anyone has asked this previously but:

What liquid explosive is good enough to blow up a plane in small quantities?
Surely it would require a detonator?

Ash

Mix two chemicals to make a binary explosive, preferebly one thats so volatile it doesn't need a detonator

puppy · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:40

It's not as if you don't get dehydrated on long-haul flights because of the environment anyways - I wouldn't like to be on a trip to Australia with absolutely nothing to drink for however many hours

You'd just have to hope that some of the ladies onboard were lactating and willing to help you out - "Bitty! Bitty!"

Brizzles · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:44

Goldy said:
What about a clear bottle of water?

Sure would be silly to stop people taking a bottle of water onboard wouldnt it.

Not all explosives/chemicals give out a neon green glow

Mark

cymatty · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:45

The funny thing is Muslims are saying this is happening due to our foriegn policy, do these muppets not realise that by trying to carry out this attack they are making the foriegn policy worse for them. :rolleyes:

fRostiE · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:46

well my dads supposed to be flying back from america today, and im supposed to be doing the same in 3 weeks time... nice!

now their telling me i have to be on a plane for 10 hours without an iPod...

Brizzles · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:48

puppy said:
It's not as if you don't get dehydrated on long-haul flights because of the environment anyways - I wouldn't like to be on a trip to Australia with absolutely nothing to drink for however many hours

You'd just have to hope that some of the ladies onboard were lactating and willing to help you out - "Bitty! Bitty!"

It was a ban on taking untested liquids onto the plane , not a blanket ban on all liquids during flight.

I'm sure the stewardess would allow you a sip of water and a peanut every ten hours , if you ask nicely.

mark

sphen · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:48

fRostiE said:
well my dads supposed to be flying back from america today, and im supposed to be doing the same in 3 weeks time... nice!

yuor telling me i have to be on a plane for 10 hours without an iPod...

Bummer, life can't get much worse can it? Considered suicide? :rolleyes:

Borris · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:48

Where's the "liquid bomb" coming from - Is it merely speculation on the part of the news services?

Aside from various official statements (here, for example), not much detail has actually been given.

growse · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:50

Updateatron:

Partial story said:
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said al Qaeda might have been involved.

"This operation is in some respects suggestive of an al Qaeda plot, but because the investigation is still under way, we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion. We're going to wait until all the facts are in," he told a news conference.

Great! The US don't have all the facts, so lets put it in the minds of people that we think it's al Quaeda. Fabulous.

*edit: the liquid bomb thing appears to have come from a "police source" - that would have been verified before it was published, so it is likely to be accurate.

Brizzles · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:54

fRostiE said:
well my dads supposed to be flying back from america today, and im supposed to be doing the same in 3 weeks time... nice!

now their telling me i have to be on a plane for 10 hours without an iPod...

The Terrorist Threat is really hitting home isn't it ?

10 hours without an iPod , how inhumane.

Grow Up.

Mark

Gaygle · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:56

Al Vallario said:
As it stands no bottled liquids whatsoever are being allowed on board, with the exception of baby's milk which must be tasted by the passenger beforehand.

But i don't like babies milk

you'll be able to buy drinks on the planes though surely? So you won't be dehydrated.

And, i honestly don't think they'd let you on board with a bottle of something in your hand. I doubt the security people are going to risk it.

fRostiE · 10 Aug 2006 at 16:59

mrdbristol said:
The Terrorist Threat is really hitting home isn't it ?

10 hours without an iPod , how inhumane.

Grow Up.

Mark

personal attacks will not be tollerated ! how exactly does this thing effect you?

not only was i complaining i wont be able to use any electrical equipment onboard because some random people decided they wanted to recreate 9/11 but there was a slight emphasis on the large delays i'll be encountering

i cant take a bottle of water on the plane ffs.

Liverpool-Lad · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:00

If you arent allowed to take your own drinks on the airlines should at least provide complimentary drinks I hope.

Brizzles · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:12

fRostiE said:
personal attacks will not be tollerated ! how exactly does this thing effect you?

not only was i complaining i wont be able to use any electrical equipment onboard because some random people decided they wanted to recreate 9/11 but there was a slight emphasis on the large delays i'll be encountering

i cant take a bottle of water on the plane ffs.

I quoted you in full , and there was no mention of delays , so please don't add to your statement after.

Directly , it doesn't affect me at the moment as I am not travelling.
But , if I was , then I would respect the measures put in place by people with far more knowledge than you or I and live with it.

If your personal comfort is more important than the potential loss of life to others , then thats your opinion.

Mark

Biohazard · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:23

when I saw what has been going on in this mornings paper, all I could think of was the last time heathrow was under threat from a possible RPG attack - they had APCs and tanks outside the departure lounge - I mean wtf?

I'll hold opinion until something concrete has been offered, they have over-reacted and bungled operations too often for me to take them that seriously. My department has raised our vigilance level to its highest level I might add, I've never seen so many officers out at the airport before!

Liverpool-Lad · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:23

I'm due to fly to LA on the 1st September next month. If the new measures mean I have to go without gizmos and reading material, so be it.

As mentioned previously, what checks exactly go on hold luggage as this still poses a threat.

growse · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:28

Update-a-blitz:

Liquid explosives sit on bathroom shelves - RTRS
10 August 2006 12:19:39

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Chemicals sitting in anyone's bathroom at home could be used to make a bomb that would badly damage a passenger jet, and experts have been warning about this danger for years.

British police said they foiled a plot on Thursday to blow up aircraft flying between Britain and the United States, and U.S. and British authorities banned liquids, including drinks, hair gels and lotions, from carry-on baggage.

"My hunch is that the reason they are prohibiting this stuff is that it does obviously have the potential of being assembled on board so that it doesn't look like a bomb going through the X-ray machine," said Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Such mundane items as nail polish remover, disinfectants and hair coloring contain chemicals can be combined to make an explosion and are not detectable by "sniffing" machines, which detect plastic explosives but are not used with all baggage.

"There remains an important explosives threat that our current procedures are not geared up for for carry-on baggage," added Blumstein, who was on a National Academy of Sciences committee that wrote a 1998 report on the detection of explosives for commercial aviation security.

Plastic explosives can be concealed in bottles or other innocent-looking containers that would pass through X-ray machines.

"They don't have the wherewithal to detect it unless it is connected as a bomb because it'll just look like a pile of stuff," Blumstein said.

Bombers who attacked London Underground trains and a bus in July 2005 used homemade peroxide-based explosives carried in backpacks.

An explosive chemical called triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, can be put together with sulfuric acid, found in some drain cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, a medical disinfectant and hair bleach, and acetone, found in nail polish remover.

Some combinations can be set off using another chemical such as hydrochloric acid, easily carried in a small glass bottle.

One of the most notorious explosives is nitroglycerin, and the clear yellow or colorless liquid can produce an explosion sometimes with vigorous shaking. Made by carefully combining glycerol or glycerin with nitric and sulfuric acids, it is very unstable and many people have been injured or killed in trying to make or mix it.

People have tried several times to use such easily concealed explosives on aircraft. Richard Reid, a British-born follower of Saudi-born militant leader Osama bin Laden, was tackled by passengers in December 2001 while trying to detonate explosives stuffed in his shoes.

In 1994, Islamic fundamentalists detonated liquid explosives on a Japan-bound Philippine Airlines plane, killing a Japanese passenger and injuring 10 others.

Mark Ensalaco, an international terrorism expert at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said Thursday's foiled operation appeared to be identical.

"I stress identical with the explosives in liquids, which appear to be assembled on the plane," Ensalaco said in a statement.

Al Vallario · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:37

Update on the reported Qatar Airways hijacking situation:

DOHA (Reuters) - A possible attempt to hijack a Qatar Airways flight from Jordan to Qatar was foiled on Thursday, a witness told Qatar-based Al Jazeera television.

"Just after takeoff, one of the passengers moved toward the cockpit and, when one of the flight attendants stood in his way, he hit him (the attendant)," Samir Samri, a passenger on the flight, told Al Jazeera by telephone.

Samri said the man appeared to be about 20 years old and from an African country.

"It might not have been a hijack attempt," he said.

Samri said the man had been detained and that the plane had returned to the Jordan capital Amman minutes after taking off.

MookJong · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:41

Al Vallario said:
Update on the reported Qatar Airways hijacking situation:

Nah doesn't sound like a hijack. You can't really hijack a plane on your own without weapons.

Sinizterguy · 10 Aug 2006 at 17:47

Note to all those mentioning stopping people of an appearance from flying - Richard Reid, British born follower of Osama Bin Laden - quite sure he didnt look Indian or have a Muslim sounding name.