Here's a recent article about AQ using women to smuggle bomb making equipment on board planes:
Press Trust of India
London, February 21: In their efforts to pursue terror tactics, al-Qaeda extremists may use women suicide bombers to smuggle explosives on board an aircraft.
A leading al-Qaeda organiser, held in custody, is understood to have told his captors that a woman was thought more likely to evade airport security. According to a report in The Times on Saturday, he suggested that a woman has already been selected for the attack, which could involve a British aircraft.
A British security source told the daily: "the terrorists know there are sensitivities about making intimate body searches of women, particularly Muslim women, and thus you can see why some groups might be planning to use a female suicide bomber. Hiding explosives in an intimate part of the body means even less chance of detection.”
The report said a woman could hide up to 12 pounds of plastic explosive inside her body. The detonator and other components, which can easily be hidden in a watch, mobile telephone or electrical device, could be taken aboard by an accomplice or in hand luggage.
According to the report, the explosive device would be assembled in mid-air in an aircraft lavatory.
Quoting experts, the report said 12 pounds of explosive would blow a hole in the fuselage. The prospect of a so-called “she-bomber” was investigated by British officials in the run-up to Christmas when a number of flights to America and the Gulf were cancelled.
Electronic eavesdropping has hinted that the next attack could involve what the authorities call an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). An FBI bulletin circulated last November said, “Components of an IED can be smuggled onto an aircraft concealed in either clothing or personal carry-on items.”
The al-Qaeda detainee is understood to have claimed that terrorists have carried out "dry runs" to see if they can get the components on to a flight.
A spokesman for the us department of homeland security said the fear has led to airport security screeners being ordered to scrutinise closely women in loose clothing.
There has been a marked increase in women being used by Islamic extremists. Women have staged four suicide attacks in Russia in the past eight months. In Israel, there have been seven attacks by women suicide bombers.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=28669 __________________
Just a thought- could the number 223 refer to date rather than to a particular flight?
Wouldn't those total body x-ray machines eliminate some of the doubt about what a woman is carrying underneath her clothing? If it saves lives, why not?