But the plans intended to PROTECT Heathrow actually give terrorists a step-by-step guide to ATTACKING it.
The plans — recovered by The Sun after an appalling security blunder — reveal details of sites best suited to launching strikes against aircraft.
They also give away confidential information about police measures including the times of patrols, deployment of rooftop snipers and use of dog units.
And they include key facts about attackers’ potential escape routes, evacuation plans and road closures.
The secret files handed to The Sun were drafted by security chiefs only last month to guard the airport from attack.
They were found by an astounded motorist lying abandoned on a roadside just a few hundred yards from Terminal 4.
The reports, compiled by Scotland Yard’s SO18 anti-terrorist Aviation Security team, show detailed maps and photographs of 62 potential terror missile launch sites.
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| Horror ... graphic shows how a terrorist could attack a plane leaving Heathrow |
Last night the manuals, which could have devastating consequences in hostile hands, were returned to Scotland Yard by The Sun after being kept in our safe.
The driver who found them beside the airport’s Southern Perimeter Road at midnight, a respected businessman, told us: “I had stopped at an Esso garage and saw the pages flapping at the roadside. When I saw the Metropolitan Police crest and the word ‘Confidential’ I knew they were important.
“But they are so detailed they are potential dynamite to a terrorist. I just could not believe what I was reading. This is the sort of information terrorists dream about.
“It is scandalous that this sort of thing could end up lying on a roadside. I’m just glad it was me that found them and not some mad follower of Osama Bin Laden.”
The reports are dated June 26 2004 and give surveillance and assessment information and aerial photographs valid until December.
They have been written after assessments by expert officers from the SO18 Aviation Security unit, based at Heathrow Police Station.
Each copy divides Heathrow and the surrounding area into five sectors. Copies handed to The Sun reveal reports on Sectors 1 to 3.
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| Vital information ... an excerpt from one of the files, partly obscured by The Sun for security purposes |
We have also been handed an index giving details of police patrol movements for all five sectors.
The files study whether terrorists could train their sights on airliners taking off and landing on runways from each of the four terminals.
Photographs of private houses are included together with addresses and phone numbers of local residents, business owners, head teachers and sports club members.
The plans even contain safety advice for patrolling officers, warning them of hazards like broken fencing and glass on waste ground.
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| Danger ... part of another secret report |
The Sun is not publishing any precise details in case it compromises security.
However, one report identifies a field close to the airport as being ideal for al-Qaeda to launch a rocket attack on two runways.
The report says: “This site affords an excellent site to attack aircraft departing Heathrow. The firing point is just over the fence into the field. This is a very large site with little cover. The only way to patrol this area is on foot. Consider dogs and the air support unit.”
The report, which includes aerial and satellite photographs of the site, recommends police should monitor it six times a day.
One report also gives details of a Sikh “dissident” who lives at a site directly under the flight path.
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| Dynamite ... the confidential files given to The Sun |
It goes on: “The site is situated immediately below the path of aircraft arriving/departing. This is a very large site affording ample cover for any potential attacker.
“Searching this site to any acceptable degree will entail tasking multiple units and dogs. Consider deploying rifle officers.”
Another potential missile site is identified in a woodland area. The files say: “Officers should consider carrying out a visual inspection of unattended and suspicious cars parked in the lay-by opposite.”
The report warns a park “provides good opportunity to engage aircraft departing”, saying: “During times of heightened threat consider utilising the air support unit.”
Members of a local club have also been consulted about attacks, according to another file. One report shows a recce was even carried out at venue described as “a regular haunt of persons concerned in drugs misuse”.
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| Garage ... plans found here |
Authorities fear terrorists could attack jets with a variety of weapons such as mortar bombs, which have a range of 3,000ft, or shoulder-fired missiles which can go several miles 1½ times faster than sound.
Last night a senior Scotland Yard source told The Sun: “We are taking this extremely seriously and want a full and thorough inquiry.
“The Commissioner himself will want to know what has happened.”