Air France, BA cancel US flights for second day (terrorism fears)

Channel News Asia ^ | Feb. 2, 2002 | AFP

[FairOpinion]

PARIS : British Airways and Air France cancelled US-bound flights for the second day running, responding to US fears of an al-Qaeda attack that European authorities and pilots have questioned for their vagueness and lack of supporting evidence.

Two flights -- one from each airline -- that were to have flown to Washington from London and Paris were scrapped Monday.

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That followed the cancellation Sunday of the same flights as well as a BA service to Miami and a Continental flight from Glasgow, Scotland to Los Angeles via New York. Another domestic US flight by Continental was also cancelled.

US officials raised the alarm about those flights after saying they had intelligence that al-Qaeda operatives might have planned to release deadly germs or chemicals on board, or transport a radiological device in a plane's hold, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times newspapers reported.

"By simple precaution... I think it's completely normal that we cooperate and work with them (the US officials) against international terrorism," French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien told Radio France Internationale.

He said that "(terrorists) could use airlines, especially those between Europe and America, and in the interests of caution we cancelled certain flights so that safety would be maintained."

But a French judicial source who declined to be identified told AFP that French anti-terrorist investigators had not opened any probe into the US concerns because of their unsubstantiated nature.

They were "less specific" and with "fewer prospective leads" than the warning US officials had given France late December that led to several Air France and British Airways flights to Los Angeles being cancelled.

A thorough investigation of the passengers at the time determined that some of them had similar names to those on a US terrorist watchlist but were otherwise not suspect.

The judicial source said that, this time, there were no names given and that the French government had opted to cancel the flights rather than beef up their security, for instance by putting armed police officers posing as passengers on board.

The British Airline Pilots' Association also said it had called on the British government to examine the "strength and validity" of the US information, even though it stressed that it had no choice at this stage but to take it seriously.

As a result of the scare, shares for both European airlines were down Monday. Air France shares slid 3.3 percent, while BA finished 4.1 percent.

[FairOpinion]

I think there is something very serious going on.

And for those who are interested, take or leave it, believe it or not, etc. -- there is new threat assessment info on Steve Quayle's website:

http://www.stevequayle.com/

ISSUE DATE: Feb. 1 ongoing

LOCATION: Dallas, Houston, NYC; Washington, D.C.

ATTACK TYPE:

commandeered airliners and stolen small aircraft

biological and radiological weapons

TARGET: refineries, natural gas storage facilities, water reservoirs and pre-selected high value target

INTEL SOURCE: DOE, various intelligence agencies, electronic intercepts

ATTACK PROBABILITY: High to Extremely High

COMMENT: According to various sources, the "dance of death" has begun. Information indicates that biological and radiological weapons are to be used with barometric triggers. So far, it is stated that 300 freedom fighters have been given their orders and turned loose in the U.S. Private pilots and aircraft owners are encouraged to keep their eyes open to any unusual aircraft activity taking off from small airports on the outskirts of major cities. The possible means of biological dispersal has been identified in addition to the aircraft. Specific articles of altered footwear are to act as reservoirs for biological and chemical dispersal. Statements coming from terrorists indicate that we will "not know for at least 24 - 48 hours until it is too late" as it relates to the biologicals. U.S citizens flying to target cities on commercial airliners should expect cancellation on a moment's notice as new intel is received by authorities.

[mewzilla]

Did we ask them to cancel or did they do it? If they did it, was it because they couldn't be bothered to put air marshalls aboard, or they didn't trust their own security?

[FairOpinion]

This is not just a marshall issue -- there have been report -- all over the US media about the possibility of WMD, and Senators saying we don't know how to handle it, except to cancel flights.

[mewzilla]

Well, FWIW, I'd heard that they cancelled because they didn't want to bother with the air marshalls. But if the problem was not a passenger but the cargo, I guess cancelling makes sense since there's nothing an air marshall is going to be able to do about that.

[Dog]

Ask yourself this question.....how are they going to screen an airline full of passengers who maybe infected with smallpox ......or anthrax.

They just don't know who will be the carriers........these cancellations make sense.

[mewzilla]

Well, I hope the Frogs are lying through their teeth this time when they say they haven't opened an investigation. Cancel if we have to, but we still need to get the would-be perps.

[Dog]

I think I know what the problem is...they know the attack is coming ....they just don't know what the method AQ will use.

[diamondjoe]

I'll take a pass on that info. 300 freedom fighters? Riiiiiight. That is totally against Al Qaeda's m.o. You can't get 300 people in a group to stay silent about it--that's why they typically use small groups. As for the shoe "resevoir" technique, that sounds very far fetched. It would (unfortunately) be far easier to just smuggle it in a bottle of contact lense solution, or something like that. Why bother with a complicated shoe resevoir system, especially post-Richard Reid. Quayle's report (as is usually the case) fails to pass the smell test.

[Cap Huff]

Two things I don't really understand with the idea that planted passengers may be infected. If someone is infected by smallpox and expecting to get on one of these flights, then that same person is infected now, and spreading the disease in London or Paris somewhere (I imagine there must be some reasonable incubation period). We should know pretty soon (ugh!).

Secondly, Anthrax can be spread by the spores, as I understand, but one doesn't catch it from another person. They could infect others on the plane through distributing the spores but those people would not be contagious themselves (except perhaps through spores on their clothing and belongings).

I think some other biological attack model would be employed. I'm neither an expert, nor an anthrax/smallpox news afficionado, but these are my musings on the subject.

[Dog]

Incubation is 7 to 17 days for small pox..

[Dog]

A spray bottle of perfume..... carrying a bio agent.

[Cap Huff]

That is about what I would have imagined. I guess a more specific question would be, when does it become contagious? I know that with some diseases (including I think the common cold) the carrier spreads the disease before symptoms are obvious. A smallpox carrier would have to be contagious before symptoms show.

Yet I would imagine that he'd have to incubate the bug for a while before getting on the plane. If that time is in excess of the time between the cancellation and the scheduled flight, then he is live and spreading.

[Dog]

It becomes contagious in the rash phase.

[Jim Noble]

I am intrigued by these cancellations, which have now happened twice, almost a month apart.

I have not heard a good theory that explains both why it's these specific flights and why cancelling the flights as opposed to detaining the passengers is what to do.

Here's my guess:

The plan is to infect terrorists with smallpox. Because of logistics, this has to be done 10 days in advance.

Then, on day 11, when the terrorists are becoming infectious but before they are disabled, they have to make their way to assembly points in the Middle East and catch flights to Paris and London, connecting to US-bound flights leaving in the afternoon.

The specific US-bound flights are important not in and of themselves, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE CONNECTING FLIGHTS for smallpox carrers originating elsewhere.

If this works perfectly, the vector terrorists will vanish on arrival to die invisibly, and in 11 more days hundreds of cases will appear all over the US with no geographic containment possible.

[mewzilla]

Where would they have gotten the smallpox from? Just asking since we all now know Saddamn, for instance, couldn't have supplied it. He didn't have any large stockpiles of WMDs. /sarcasm

[LPStar]

Any guesses as to whether any would-be smallpox spreaders have died yet?

[Jim Noble]

Where would they have gotten the smallpox from?

This is THE big problem with any smallpox theory, and it seems less likely to me now that they have it than it did in 2001.

[Dog]

No.

[mewzilla]

Let's hope. Anthrax is bad enough, at least from a fear factor.

[veryconernedamerican]

with smallpox there would be far easier ways to spread the problem just getting anyone in a confined space with an infected person, ie, in a downtown rush on a sidewalk touching everyone as they went by could casue enough of a mess. no reason for the terrorist to confine it to a plane, it doesnt make sense. if they need a plane it is to blow it up and disperse something or use it as a missile.