A scare in the air for one British Airways flight

WABC TV ^ | August 14 | Joe Torres

[PghBaldy]

Just how cautious are airline pilots after last week's thwarted terror plot? Consider this: A British Airways captain was piloting a New York bound jet when a cell phone with no apparent owner began ringing on board. The pilot, taking no chances, turned the plane around.

Eyewitness News reporter Joe Torres talked exclusively with a local woman on board.

[Wycowboy]

I would find it hard to believe that a civilized person

The operative word here is civilized

[JimSEA]

ROPs that work at the airport

You and I may have equally warped minds -- hopefully. Both the number of Arabs and South Asians working at airports and the difficulty of effective screening when what you are checking for is essentially private religious belief and fervor, not criminality or poor work habits which are likely documented somewhere, many bad actors must be in the plane cleaner, luggage handler, electrician, mechanic and related ranks. This does sound like a test run.

[greasepaint]

coulda been a prank by a mischevious employee

[nopardons]

Holy cow.

Good for that pilot; he was taking no chances.

[Terridan]

Yep.... to see if they could do it, get it on undetected.
And, as usual, it was no sweat.

[CindyDawg]

Either that are terrorists were on board and it alarmed before they could put it together. Was the plane delayed , taking off?

[Shelayne]

Yikes.

This does sound like a test run.

I remember when I was flying during the first gulf war, the security was unbelievable--especially out of the states. In between flights the plane was practically stripped. I saw them bring on dogs, and all the seat cushions were lifted up and checked. As airline crew, we were under heavier scrutiny, as well. The passengers actually had to walk on the tarmac to the cargo hold and physically identify their luggage before it could be loaded onto the plane, "Yes, this is my suitcase". Any "extra" baggage was not loaded onto the aircraft, and I believe was destroyed. I have to believe that they are doing similar things under this kind of threat.

Now the question is--exactly WHO are the people making certain the plane is "secure" and HOW was the phone (isn't it still a prohibited item?) in the plastic bag "missed" in their cabin check?

Maybe it is nothing, but it certainly sounds ominous.

[Southack]

"Most likely it was not an incoming call to the cell phone since the plane was over the Atlantic."

Can't say. The phone rang 20 minutes after takeoff from London, meaning the NYC-bound plane would have been over Ireland or Wales/Scotland (you're in the climb phase of flight, averaging perhaps a mere 300mph net ground speed, which for 20 minutes is only 100 miles horizontal from London).

Also, the article doesn't really detail if the phone was a true cell phone or a satellite phone.

But, the record of who dialed the phone will be interesting (if it did receive a call instead of just having an alarm go off). Since no mention of that is made, one can presume that it was censored by the police (i.e. no one spoke to the reporter about it) if it was applicable.

If a dry run, then I'd guess the dialing phone number would be from a public pay phone or "anonymous" pre-paid cell or hacked/chipped sat phone...but I'd put the dry run option low on the list.

[Shelayne]

Can't say. The phone rang 20 minutes after takeoff from London, meaning the NYC-bound plane would have been over Ireland or Wales/Scotland

Oh my Lord. I just got chills. Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie. Twenty-two minutes into flight.

I received my training packet that day. I almost didn't go.

[stlnative]

Oops... I read earlier they were halfway through the flight when it occurred. This story says 20 minutes or so into the flight.

My guess is that officials know who owns the phone by now. What would be odd is if the phone did not have any numbers stored in it or any type of call history on it or if the phone and bag are free of fingerprints.

[Southack]

It could have been something as simple as a wrong number disrupting a terror plot scheduled for a later flight.

The story at the link seems to allude to the phone being hidden under a toilet seat cushion, as best as I can make out. The on-board toilets use chemicals to control ordinary natural stenches...but at least one of those chemicals is a bomb component...available to the terrorists by default.

Tough to play defense against these guys. Better to go on the offense and kill them first, instead.

[Cobra64]

Hoax to scare the ninnies.

[Cobra64]

make our lives as miserable as they can by adding stress to every aspect of our daily lives

Because we let them. Too many Chicken Little folks.

[jwparkerjr]

re: Too many cell phone incidents

I think it's high time we have a waiting period for cell phone purchases, and maybe even time for a background check of those who purchase them. Who knows, it might work as well for cell phones as it has for handguns.

</sarcasm>

[jwparkerjr]

Probably was someone on board for the sole purpose of observing how the crew reacted. How long before they turned back, did they spend anytime trying to find the owner, etc.

[Excellence]

Howard said the pilot consulted with security back in London and was prepared to continue with the flight, but the 45-year-old author and the 216 other passengers said no and demanded a return to London believing the phone might be some sort of triggering device.

Kudos to the passingers.

[phoenix0468]

Absolutely.