'Real and Definite Threat' Caused BA Flight Cancellation

The Scotsman ^ | Jan 02 2004 | By Caroline Gammell, PA News

[Dog]

'Real and Definite Threat' Caused BA Flight Cancellation

By Caroline Gammell, PA News

The cancellation of British Airways flight BA223 from Heathrow to Washington was caused by a “real and definite threat”, a defence expert warned today.

The plane had already started checking in passengers and was due to leave at 3.05pm.

But BA announced it had been cancelled at 1.15pm – less than two hours before take off – for security reasons.

Paul Beaver, a defence analyst, said: “This is certainly unusual. The intelligence is very, very precise which is why this one flight has been cancelled.

“We have got intelligence, I am told, that there was a plan to take the aircraft and destroy it over Washington or fly it into something.

“Washington is the definite target.”

Mr Beaver said the information passed on to BA via the Government was likely to have come from American intelligence.

“All I know is there is a real and definite threat.”

He went on: “There is good and precise intelligence that there is more than one al Qaida or al Qaida-like group operating against the US.

“One is based in central America and the other is based in Europe – in London or Paris.”

Mr Beaver said it was not known whether operatives in these potential terror cells are carrying legal British passports.

Yesterday’s flight BA223 was also cancelled several hours before it was scheduled to depart after BA received “security advice” from the Government.

On New Year’s Eve, the same flight had been kept on the runway for three hours after landing at Washington Dulles International Airport to allow security officials to board the plane and question passengers.

The Boeing 747 was escorted into Dulles by two F-16 fighter jets.

An Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles was also cancelled after US authorities refused to allow it to land.

Flight 490 was cancelled after Homeland Security officials said they were concerned it might be a safety risk, said a spokesman for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox.

[nicmarlo]

Landed

[maestro]

......Remember the vending machine in "sum of all fears"?...

?.....'sum of all fears'....?

I take it that this is a movie.

If so, I don't know anything about it.

I only see 1 or 2 movies a year.

Many, many years none at all.

We did see 'Paycheck' the other day.

The first 1/4 of it was real good.

(I don't like flashing strob light or loud sound affects!)

It's all subliminal hypnotic stuff....it follows I don't watch T.V. either.)

[Remember the movie, 'Conspiracy Theory'?]

That was a pretty good movie of the year for me.

:-)

[myprecious]

LOL. You could have hosted the Freeper Tailgate party at Dulles.

[WestCoastGal]

It's a good thing we have FR since the cable channels are all sleeping over holidays and weekends.

[ellery]

What about the plane at Salman Pak in Iraq? Was that a 747?

[nicmarlo]

Well, if they don't sleep, you know it's all about Scott Peterson or Michael Jackson (gag).

[BulletBobCo]

LOL. You could have hosted the Freeper Tailgate party at Dulles. The way the Redskins performed this year that would have been the only tailgate party worth going to.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

If it is 10:00, it is the Greta & Scott Peterson Show. Holiday, workday, weekend day, any day.

[BulletBobCo]

I guess we're safe if all it is is the Scott and Greta show.

[nicmarlo]

How do you access that site for other flights? Is it a subscription service? Thanks.

[bcoffey]

LOL. You could have hosted the Freeper Tailgate party at Dulles.

Sounds great to me! (We could have invited the head guy of TSA to bring the booze!)

[NeutronTeuton]

dear pfft, remember how heathrow was all but shut down several months ago because of the threat of AQ firing portable missles at planes? this has in fact been a constant concern of British Airways over the past year, both domestically and internationally (Heathrow, Saudi Arabia, Kenya). It's not unreasonable that the past is a guide to the present (AQ being so persistent and all) and that this is what lies behind the current jitters. At the very least, your recollection that AQ had pledged to attack in England first suggested that one shouldn't be too confident that the object of the BA terrorist attack had to be Washington...

[cyncooper]

I was wondering why they would want to target D.C. when the President is not there. Why choose now?

He wasn't in DC on 9/11, either. Remember? He was in Florida on a well publicized ahead of time visit.

[oceanview]

anyone see the latest drudge headline:

"
FLASH: Cancellation of British Airways flights is not in response to U.S. safety concerns, but rather is being prompted by refusal of British pilots to fly with armed marshals on board... Developing...
"

[arasina]

Okay, I apologize for the raspberry at your theory. I thought you were poking fun at my hindsight. (And by the time of my pffft to you, I was a little upset with myself for thinking "Daleel" was a person when I guess in Arabic it means "Proof" or "Evidence" or something.) In addition, your theory may be even more on the mark. I went back to the Daleel_Almojahid info and it says a hit to the U.K. comes first, then a demand to be met by President Bush which if not met a hit to the U.S. follows.

Will YOU answer the question I asked of Saph? How did you find this Free Republic thread? Did you find it and then register to post because it interested you?

[Brad’s Gramma]

Methinks you're being ignored.

[NeutronTeuton]

hmm. interesting. though i suppose that this whole line of inquiry is about to be squished by quivvery british pilots...

i'm not sure what you're getting at with your question (i mean that respectfully: perhaps you could give me your alternative theory?) but yes, I saw this thread, read it, felt a strong logical possibility was being ignored in the conversation, and then freep-reged to post about it...

[arasina]

Thanks for responding to my question, sort of. Where did you see this thread in the first place? Just curious as all get out to know how people find Free Republic, particularly those for whom it is already tomorrow. :o)

You don't really think this is all about the Brit pilots opposition to having armed marshals aboard, do you? I don't. But on the other hand, I'm actually opposed to having armed marshals on commercial planes. Who's to say they wouldn't use their weapons inappropriately and create chaos on board or at least create a new class of lawsuits for passengers?

[NeutronTeuton]

it does seem like they could come up with some weapon other than a pistol for the marshals—perhaps one of those highconcept weapons the pentagon is designing for urban-theater crowdcontrol...something involving smells, or gas? laughing gas? what could be more christian than a weapon that turned a bloodcurdled jihading atta into a heap of uncontrollable giggles on the cabin floor...

at the risk of being truly obtuse: I saw the breaking news headline for this article on the frontpagenews page of freep.com--where i've been seeing and reading fascinating articles for years now...

i'm sorry, but you will have to explain the it being already tomorrow line. i mean, i feel very advanced, but i'm wondering how you can tell...

[arasina]

I think the laughing gas is a lovely idea --- if it could be immediately effective. It would be a much more compassionate tool for neutralizing the opposition than the gas used in the Moscow theatre terrorist/hostage situation. But is it realistic?

Don't worry about the already tomorrow thing. I wasn't referring to you in particular, especially since you signed up today. Free Republic IS the best place to get a news roundup, isn't it? And being able to post your thoughts/opinions/theories and read those of others as well. So much better than talking back to the television or radio.

I don't know when you started lurking, but you may find these archived LIVE threads interesting:

Shuttle Contact LOST-No Tracking Data During RE-Entry!

SECOND PLANE FLIES INTO OTHER TOWER!