Posted on 03/22/2017 12:03:07 AM PDT by Swordmaker
Britain last night took the dramatic step of banning laptops from the cabins of UK-bound flights from six countries, amid fears terrorists have perfected a new type of airline bomb.
The move, which is likely to spark travel chaos at affected airports, was imposed just hours after a similar ban was unveiled by the United States.
It comes amid fears that Islamic State, al Qaeda and other terror groups have developed the capability to hide a bomb in a laptop big enough to blow a hole in the side of a plane.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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“The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming to the United States from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified terrorism threats,” Reuters reports. “The Department of Homeland Security said passengers traveling from those airports could not bring devices larger than a cellphone, such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras, into the main cabin. Instead, they must be in checked baggage. The new restrictions were prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, officials told reporters on a conference call on Monday.”
“The airports are in Cairo; Istanbul; Kuwait City; Doha, Qatar; Casablanca, Morocco; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates,” Reuters reports. “The airports affected by the electronics rules are served by nine airlines that fly directly from those cities to the United States about 50 times a day, senior government officials said. The carriers — Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways , Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways — have until Friday to comply with the new policy, which took effect early on Tuesday and will be in place indefinitely.”
“The policy does not affect any American carriers because none fly directly to the United States from the airports, officials said. Officials did not explain why the restrictions only apply to travelers arriving in the United States and not for those same flights when they leave the United States,” Reuters reports. “Reuters reported Monday that the move had been under consideration since the U.S. government learned of a threat several weeks ago. U.S. officials have told Reuters the information gleaned from a U.S. commando raid in January in Yemen that targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula included bombmaking techniques.”
Read more in the full article here.
“British passengers on holiday flights from the Middle East and North Africa will be banned within days from carrying laptops, tablets and other electronic devices on board after security services identified a new al-Qaeda terrorist threat,” Steven Swinford reports for The Telegraph. “More than 2 million passengers a year flying on airlines including British Airways, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Easyjet will be prevented from taking devices larger than a mobile phone into the cabin. Instead, anyone flying from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will have to put electronic devices in their hold luggage, despite concerns they could be stolen or damaged.”
“The Government introduced the ban after a similar move by the US, where officials revealed ‘evaluated intelligence’ showed that terrorists are “aggressively pursuing innovative measures” to carry out attacks with devices such as laptop bombs,” Swinford reports. “The intelligence is believed to have come from a raid by US Navy Seals in Yemen in January, which targeted al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP). It resulted in the death of a soldier, but yielded ‘important intelligence,’ according to President Donald Trump.”
“US security analysts are also said to have picked up increased “chatter” in recent weeks from militants saying they want to hide explosives in computers,” Swinford reports. “Last year the insurgent group al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive-filled laptop on a flight out of Mogadishu, Somalia, blowing a hole in the side of a plane.”
A hole was blown in the side of a plane last year caused by an explosive-filled laptop (Photo: AP)
“The restrictions will cover all electronic devices larger than 6.3ins (16cm) long, 3.6 inches (9.3cm) wide and 0.6 inches (1.5cms) deep. The ban will hit tablets, laptops, handheld games consoles, e-readers such as Kindles and portable DVD players,” Swinford reports. “The ban explicitly refers only to direct flights to Britain, leaving a potential loophole for people who fly via other European hubs. Government sources suggested that other European nations are likely to follow the UK’s example.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: On the bright side, iPhone 7 Plus sales are set to skyrocket, er… increase greatly in areas affected by the ban.
Trump administration bans iPads, laptops and other devices in cabin on flights from certain Middle Eastern airports; Britain follows suit —MacDailyNews
March 21, 2017 — 8:19PM
Ban anyone belonging to Islamic cult and coming to/from anywhere. Solve the problem. If someone is Islamic, they should be on a no fly list. Period.
Couldn’t a cell phone in the cabin be used to trigger a bomb in the luggage? Or do the luggage compartments have RF blocking? Maybe the devices should be checked separately and carried in an explosion proof compartment? Maybe they could have bomb sniffing dogs screen the luggage? What about a computer algorithm that could look at an x-ray and compare it to a database to determine whether the device is factory built or is altered?
Refuse to fly US flights to or from those airports
You can’t take people’s phones from them. when the terrorists take over the plane, no one can let anyone know.
These muslims really make the world a better place, don’t they?
The effort we make to stop these people from doing us harm, while at the same time pretending they belong in the civilized world, is pretty darn dumb.
iPad? Plot? Then arrest iPad! Arrest it, them quickly, post-haste.
All too often, media (these ‘journalists’) chides people like Sean Spicer as knowing nothing, stupid or ignorant and they most often don’t even know how to craft a damn sentence themselves. Who is writing this stuff? Teenagers? More importantly, who is vetting this sophomoric tripe and letting it out in public?
They just need jobs and love, and it will all go away.
so, what is the difference between a laptop bomb exploding in checked baggage and in the passenger compartment?
Whoa there, fella? Aren’t you jumping to conclusions it is moslems? It’s “people from these six countries.” We can’t speak harshly of a protected class.
The liberals were condemning Trump for this, claiming that it’s because he “hates” muslims, until the UK came out with the ban.
It could where ever you had a cellular signal, but 35,000 feet in the air, you generally don't have cell service. Bluetooth would be problematic, depending on where you are sitting.
The power of chemical explosives are limited by what size you can pack into them. An iPad or a working laptop the size would most likely be the size of any replaced battery the explosive is replacing. It would have to be well concealed and sealed to get around the "sniffers" that detect explosive exudations at check points. Such sniffers are not as effective as bomb detecting dogs, but I bet Muslim check points won't use dogs, given their hatred of canines. So you are starting with a very small bomb to begin with contained within a shell. Now put it in another soft container. Any explosion in the luggage would be buffered and absorbed by what was packed around it. How likely would it be that the device would be placed right next to the wall of the aircraft or a critical component? Not much. Such a small bomb would do little to no damage in the baggage compartment so the whole point of smuggling a bomb on board is useless for a terrorist's purpose, which is to do as much mayhem as possible. Vandalizing luggage is not worth the effort.
Look at the damage done with a computer bomb in the photo above. The terrorists in that incident succeeded in killing himself, the person next to him, and injuring the person in front of him. The plane depressurized, but it did not crash. People were terrorized, but a whole plane was not destroyed. It landed safely. Apparently to do that damage, he pressed his computer to the side of the plane and detonated it.
Now, picture a similar bomb buried somewhere in the pressurized baggage compartment. WHUMP! Shredded clothes. . . and some disappointed passengers when their baggage comes out of the carousel looking like it lost a ten round bout with some angry bears.
Years past the screeners made us start up the electronic gear to show it actually ran. Now they no longer do that. . . just put them through the Xray and done. Perhaps that should be re-instituted. Then iPads and other tablets could be carried. There's not much room for a bomb in a working tablet. Computers are a different story altogether. Enough room for a small battery for a short operational time and a fairly adequate bomb could be found. Look at the interior of a MacBook:
Those black blocks are the batteries. Just a single one could provide power for a short time. . . the rest could be replaced with explosive by terrorists. Not good. As a counter measure, we know exactly how much this notebook should weigh. It would be very easy to weigh it on check in. Any discrepancy and it doesn't fly. Any discrepancy on Xray and it doesn't fly. Sniff test failure and it doesn't fly. Etc. I think that's why there is a cabin ban only from these seven countries, there screening leaves a lot to be desired.
See my analysis in the post above.
Thank you for that very detailed explanation!
One other thing about putting computer devices in the luggage compartment... I seem to recall that devices containing lithium batteries are supposed to be in carry-on, never checked, because something about the luggage compartment causes them to fail catastrophically. So now, those airlines are requiring these devices be checked. It seems to me that they could be risking fires in the luggage compartment. Or not... the air is pretty thin up there.
The baggage compartment is at no different pressure than the cabin. The entire fuselage of the aircraft is a tube that is pressurized. The tube is easier to keep pressurized than any other shape. . . think what would happen to toothpaste tubes in your check baggage if they weren't pressurized. The toothpaste would be all over your clothes. That's why propane and oxygen tanks are always tubular. Same with the planes. Who ever made that claim about the baggage compartment and Lithium batteries probably thought that the baggage compartments were not pressurized.
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