Planes vulnerable to bombs built on board, ingredients hidden in daily objects: Experts

The Hindu News ^ | August 10, 2006 | Staff

[WmShirerAdmirer]

Planes vulnerable to bombs built on board, ingredients hidden in daily objects: Experts Dublin, Aug. 10 (AP): The next terrorist attacks on civilian aircraft could be carried out by passengers who hide their bomb ingredients in innocent-looking containers for talcum powder, baby formula or medicine bottles and assemble their weapon behind a locked restroom door, security experts warn.

The announcement on Thursday of a foiled terror plot aiming to blow up flights from London to the United States using explosives hidden in hand luggage pointed to a potential new chapter in the battle against airline terrorism: a world of hours-long security checks, visual inspections of prescription drugs, and bans on bringing liquids or laptops on board.

Several bomb-disposal experts and troubleshooters for airline security interviewed by The Associated Press said mobile phones, computers, wrist watches or anything else with a battery should be prohibited from flights.

Perhaps most chillingly, they warn that security staff at airports are not looking for the right things anymore _ and the change in tactics required is likely to overwhelm current security standards.

``That theater we see, of people taking off shoes, is not going to stop a suicide bomber. The terrorists have already sniffed out the weak spots and are adopting new tactics,'' said Irish security analyst Tom Clonan, who noted that security measures usually adapt to the last attack, not the next threat.

He said that a terrorist group will almost certainly try to blow up a plane with a bomb assembled on board unless security measures improved fundamentally.

Anti-terrorist authorities in Britain and the United States declined to describe the bomb design used by terrorists in the foiled plot _ whether they were primarily liquid or, more likely, contained liquids in a more complex ingredient list.

Whatever the case, experts predicted passengers may soon have to change their travel habits radically.

``Every businessman needs to have his laptop on a long-haul flight, and now you won't be able to. Even a battery-operated watch would provide enough power for a detonator. All you need is one shock,'' said Alan Hatcher, managing director of the International School for Security and Explosives Education in Salisbury, England.

Airlines have toyed with the idea of banning innocuous personal-care items from carry-on luggage following previous security scares, only to have the focus switch elsewhere because of the mammoth difficulty of enforcing tougher rules. Thursday's announcement dramatically raises the likelihood that security will come first no matter what the logistical hurdles.

The technology for the kind of liquid or crystallized explosives possibly involved in the thwarted terror plot is not new.

The threat first appeared in January 1995 in the Philippines, when police stumbled upon a suspected al-Qaida plot to target U.S.-bound, long-haul planes with bombs based on nitroglycerine carried on board in containers for contact-lens solution.

At that time, aviation authorities announced plans to ban aerosols, bottled gels and containers of liquids holding more than 30 milliliters on U.S. airliners departing Manila, an idea never properly enforced.

Even then, baby formula was excluded from the limits _ even though, in its powdered form, it could provide a good vehicle for masking crystallized explosives.

A decade later in Belfast, Northern Ireland, an Algerian man was convicted of possessing 25 computer disk drives detailing how to bring down an aircraft using, among other things, crystallized explosives hidden in a container of talcum powder.

During that trial an FBI explosives expert, Donald Sachtleben, testified he had built and successfully detonated three bombs based on the instructions found in the Algerian's home.

Despite this decade-old knowledge, security officials in Dublin and across Europe still permit passengers to carry on a wide range of receptacles without any visual inspection.

And the increasing probability that terrorists will try to strike with explosive components hidden in hand-luggage has been accompanied by a trend among discount airlines to encourage passengers to bring more carry-on baggage. In recent months Europe's market-leading airline, Irish budget carrier Ryanair, has imposed a mandatory charge on all check-in luggage; an Irish competitor, Aer Lingus, has announced plans to follow suit.

``I'm really surprised the Irish aviation authority hasn't stepped in to moderate this rush to hand luggage by airlines,'' said aviation expert Gerry Byrne. ``All our airport security has been geared towards baggage going into the hold. ... It will overwhelm security if the emphasis is suddenly switched to hand baggage.''

A British security expert, Steve Park, said the likely scenario would involve a two- or three-member terror team boarding the same flight, each carrying a different part of the bomb to be made. ``They could combine resources on the plane. That would be perfectly possible on a busy flight,'' he said.

Critical to conventional bombs is a power source to trigger a detonator. Clonan said cell phones could provide an ideal power-timer unit for a bomb.

``In midflight you could go into the toilet, attach the mobile phone to the explosives and, as the plane makes a final approach over a densely populated urban area, you detonate it,'' he said. To puncture an aircraft's fuselage would require an explosive charge ``half the size of a cigarette packet,'' he said.

Hatcher said ``liquid bombs'' were not the most likely explosive. He said it was far more likely that a terrorist cell would try to smuggle on board explosives in crystalline or powder form and to combine it with an acid-based compound.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned Thursday of precisely that threat: ``benign'' materials smuggled on board and mixed to create bomb. He said authorities were analyzing to see how to protect against such a threat.

Hatcher said terrorists might also construct an on-board incendiary bomb based on paraffin or petrol, which if ignited in the mid-Atlantic could destroy an aircraft before it could land.

None of these items, he noted, could be detected by a typical US$5 million (euro4 million) X-ray. Hands-on inspection was the only way to tell if a dark-plastic medicine vial really contains what it says on the label.

``You'll have to carry your prescription and prove to security that the medicine really is what it is. But for 20 million people a year going through Heathrow? How do you do that?'' Hatcher said, foreseeing a future airport arrivals hall with five-hour security checks.

And that scenario, he said, points to a future likely target for terrorists _ detonating bombs in an airport terminal, not on a plane.

``You can carry a bag into the center of an airport with thousands of people around you before you are ever screened. That, too, must change,'' he said

[taxed2death]

Ban all passengers from Muslim countries. Let them start their own airlines.

[lilylangtree]

Dang! These monsters ruin everything for everybody else. Now I can't board with my bottle of water, my hair gel, my face creams, my acne medicine (cream), etc. This frosts my cookies. I'm ready to kill everyone of these monsters barehanded but if I'm in close proximity, I'll use whatever is handy. I'm really ticked!

[MineralMan]

"There are public toilets on the streets of some cities that automatically open the door after Xminutes.

In part to keep junkies from using them."

Oh, that'll work...for sure. I can see it now....

The fat lady three rows up from you who already takes five minutes just to get enough stuff off to do her business has the door open while she's sitting on the pot.

I don't think any of us want to see that, eh?

[weegee]

The ugly truth is that they launch (as in INITIATE) war on civilians.

They strike people who are not targets.

This is premedatated murder. We can't "profile" this intolerant lot. They are killing the kufir and striking at men, women, and children to make their point.

Beslan could happen over here. The Seattle shooting was not a fluke.

Think of that the next time the media accuses the US of warcrimes.

Would we be permitted to launch missile strikes in retaliation on any nation who's people took to the streets to cheer if this attempt had been successful?

[Alouette]

They just need to get blond haired, blue-eyed Muslim converts to do their bidding. They are already doing this, in fact.

Abut 20 years ago, the Israelis stopped a redheaded, pregnant Irish woman from getting on a plane with a bomb that her Palestinian boyfriend put into her luggage.

[taxcontrol]

Yeah, and I really doubt that someone intent on blowing up the plane is really going to pay attention to that announcement about it being against Federal law to tamper with a smoke detector. Most smoke detectors are in the 3 amp range... that is enough juice for many detonators... but I don't know about igniting raw explosives.

[wyattearp]

Why not shut down the militant mosques enlisting jihadist armies?

Prohibit all Arabs from flying on US Aircraft. If the innocent ones don't like it, let them take it up with their jihadist brothers (whom the "innocent ones" were cheering on 9/11).

If there are Arabs in this country that are not US citizens, kick them out. Students, workers, I don't care. Kick them out. All of them. Do racial profiling, stop them in the street, and kick them all out.

Right now, we are letting more in every day, legally! Those 11 Egyptian Arab students didn't get here before 2001. Why are they here now? What MORON is letting arabs, and muslims into this country?

Pardon me for being paranoid, but it appears as if the US Govt is providing aid and comfort to the enemy as a matter of policy. Are they hoping that this scum kill more Americans on American soil, so that they can take more freedom and liberty from Americans? Is the Govt and the Muslims working together to destroy America? I can see no other reason behind their insanity!

[bobdsmith]

Perhaps some kind of camera set up so that other passengers can watch you in there using their in seat tv screens.

Also perhaps a microphone. Perhaps an air marshal hidden in a false wall?

[weegee]

I don't want to see it. In the streets or in a plane.

Mentioning what already is implemented in the West.

As for me, I drive.

A more proactive solution would be to erradicate this supremacist political ideology as we did Nazism.

We didn't wait for Nazis to strike on our soil.

[TChris]

It's a bad idea. As a profile forms, the enemy switches tactics. They just need to get blond haired, blue-eyed Muslim converts to do their bidding. They are already doing this, in fact. Same with babies and the elderly. As soon as we stop checking any group of people, they will become the next carriers, victims of evil people who don't mind killing anyone to do their nefarious deeds.

I disagree.

First, if intelligent searching for a terrorist's tools of destruction continue, then we have at least the same degree of security as now.

Second, there simply aren't as many "blond-haired, blue-eyed", or other non-traditional, terrorists to be found. By definition, zeroing in on the overwhelmingly most common terrorists, the threat will be significantly reduced.

The fact is, we know who the terrorists are most likely to be (Middle-eastern Muslim young adult males) and we know their most likely tools and tactics (Explosives, knives, hijacking, kidnapping).

If the govt. would quit wasting monumental quantities of time and money keeping up P.C. appearances and instead zero in on the obvious real threat, we'd all be much safer.

[weegee]

It's not just Arabs. You'll find Islamic militants killing in Africa, Indonesia, Chechnya...

[weegee]

What about those from Russia?

[Polyxene]

You and me both!! My husband and I are flying to Vancouver to go on a long-planned cruise to Alaska on Sept. 2nd. I was nervous before -- I think I am going to have to get some tranquilizers for this trip!

[Osage Orange]

Like cell phones....??????????

[wagglebee]

``You can carry a bag into the center of an airport with thousands of people around you before you are ever screened. That, too, must change,'' he said.

Interesting point that I hadn't even thought of before now.

[weegee]

Foreigner Found With Prepaids, Cash In Murrysville Is Held By Feds (August 7, 2006)

GREENSBURG, Pa. -- A man from the Republic of Georgia is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after he and another man from that country were found with 15 prepaid cell phones and $4,200 in cash, police said.

[snip]

The men said they were immigrants, but each displayed Michigan driver's licenses, police said.

Zakutashvili told police he was in the country illegally, Tappe said. Maisuradze claimed to have a visa, but he said he had forgotten to bring it with him.

The prepaid cell phones, which the men had recently purchased in Monroeville and Murrysville, were found inside the van. Also in the van were a laptop computer and global-positioning software.

[TChris]

What about those from Russia?

How many terrorists from Russia have killed Americans, compared to the number of middle-eastern terrorists?

I'm talking about the most likely threat. There will always be the occasional exception (Tim McVeigh, et al)

The best bang-for-the-American-buck is to pay very close attention to middle-eastern young-adult males. Of course you keep your eyes open for everything/everyone else too, but the bulk of the time, manpower and money should be aimed at the bulk of the threat.

[weegee]

There is no bag checking at shopping mall and much fewer number of cops.

If someone is going to blow up a large number of people in public, expect more "cafe" bombs like are seen in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

[goalinestan]

My job takes me from the U.S. to Europe 3-4 times a year, so new security measures and terrorist threats have been affecting me personally since September 11th.

I constantly remind myself (and more importantly my wife) that statistically I have a better chance of dying on the way to the airport than once I am in the air.

Life is full of threats and chances and regardless of how many security measures are put in place, none will ever be full proof when the muslim terrorists have already shown they are willing to die for their insane cause.

For people who fly a lot for work, there are really only two choices...suck it up and live with the risk, knowing it's never going to be resolved...or switch to a job that doesn't require air travel...an idea that doesn't sound too bad on days like this.

[weegee]

See 56. Just "Russian" mob? Or what of that GPS system?

With the 11 Egyptians, this large net being cast, these guys, and who knows what, there may even be several "unrelated" plans with a few decoys (who are meant to be caught) to boot.

Something seems to be in the works.