Explosive Gel Was to Be Concealed in Sports Drink

ABC News. com ^ | 8/10/2006 | Richard Esposito

[Sleeping Freeper]

The suspected terror plotters arrested in Britain had planned to conceal their liquid or gel explosives inside a modified sports beverage drink container and trigger the device with the flash from a disposable camera.

ABC News has learned exclusively that the plotters planned to leave the top of the bottle sealed and filled with the original beverage but add a false bottom, filled with a liquid or gel explosive.

This, they thought, would ensure that they would be able to pass through security -- even if they were asked to unseal and drink the beverage.

The flash in a disposable camera has enough electrical power, they apparently believed, to set off the homemade explosive.

There are any number of homemade or modified commercial liquids that would have made effective explosives, with enough energy to damage or destroy a plane.

[AbeKrieger]

Why don't we just ban people from wearing clothing and bringing luggage when flying on airplanes? Problem solved.

[mystery-ak]

Romney and Arnold calling out the Guard for their airports....concerns me...

[AmishDude]

I had to fly through DeGaulle the other week and I was truly shocked at the number of headscarves worn by the passengers and employees there. I was expecting some, but wow!

[Fighting Irish]

Explosive gel

[jstassis]

So does this make sense for 9/11:

September 11th - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11

1978 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter, President Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Begin of Israel met at Camp David and agreed on a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt and a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

[Steel Wolf]

Sounds like a lamer plane than the Shoe-Bomber's.

Richard Reid was about 10 seconds away from blowing that plane out of the sky when he was overpowered by fellow passengers.

These plans only sound dumb because they're stopped before given a chance to work. We're more alert now, and are on watch for the unusual. Prior to 9/11, if you saw some guy in the aisle next to you trying to set his shoe on fire and hold it against the window, you'd probably just sit back and laugh.

[ishabibble]

Maybe you said Jack Bauer in jest, but I truly believe that there are Jack Bauers who foil these plots, who stop atrocities we don't even know about, and who are probably nameless, faceless, plain old people who are the ones confronting true evil every day.

God bless the Jack Bauers who stopped the evil in London today. We thank you and remember you in this house.

[CheneyChick]

I liked it better when the Muslims were the bad guys on the show. That wife with the low voice was on a movie I recently saw... oh yeah, the one with Sandra Bullock about the Lake House.

[rintense]

Is there a news report you can cite? Our corporate travel dept. is having a cow over all this stuff.

[chilepepper]

...kills the bad guys after torturing them for awhile (just for fun)...

in other words, he makes them eat the airline food.

[robjna]

notto be cold hearted or closed minded , BUT, it seems to me coming to America is a priveledge , not a right and until the Muslim community can get a grip on its fascist, no entry should be allowed. AND, all muslims should be put through the third degree at the airports, not my 85 yr old grandmother or my sister with her 3 kids. I don't care if the Muslim is a patriotic, civil minded American, if he is he would understand the scrutiny. I just find it insulting to apply the same scrutiny to me as to a Muslim at the airport.
BUt NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, we can't discrimnate and we MUST let all foreign nationals in.
Enough already, close the #$$%^$%## door

[Howlin]

LOL!

[Slip18]

Holy Moses. I've been watching FNN all day, and hadn't heard that. But I did think it weird that no one could take drinks on the jet.

[duckbutt]

Simple solution, assuming its a 20oz bottle, simply take all the drinks away from passengers. If they complain, hand them a dollar.

---

I understand what you're saying, but this may put an end to my travels by air. I'm a cancer survivor but one of the side effects of the radiation was damage to the saliva glands. Simply put, I don't produce none no mo....so, I have to carry a bottle of water with me constantly. If you've ever awakened with that dry, lips-sticking-to-your-teeth, kinda morning, well, that's the way it is for me all the time. I have to have the water or I start to gag and choke....so it's not like I can't go without it for a few hours.....yup, it may mean me driving cross country to see the grand-kiddies....crap.....

[rintense]

No doubt that there are many Jack Bauers out there who help foil these attacks. There's just a very large contingency of 24 fans on FR- who LOVE Jack Bauer!

[vetvetdoug]

Let the marketplace make the decisions. Market a plane with only passengers of any decent except for Middle Easterners. Then let them market a plane for Middle Easterners only. Who will get canceled for lack of passengers? OTOH, let the passengers change or refuse to fly with Middle Easterners. The airlines will have to make some kind of decision...PC no, practical yes.

[CheneyChick]

he makes them eat the airline food.

Airline food? What's that...?

[Xenalyte]

I've never met a "sport drink" in an opaque bottle. All of them have bottles that are at worst translucent.

A false bottom would be totally obvious.

[Mo1]

me too .. but it could also be just as a precaution

[sourcery]

Here's today's date in various calendars:

2006-08-10 AD [Gregorian]
0163-08-10 BE [Bahai]
1722-12-04 AM [Coptic]
1998-12-04 ZH [Ethiopic]
5766-05-16 AM [Hebrew]
1928-05-19 AS [Indian Civil]
1427-07-15 AH [Islamic (Fatimid)]
2006-07-28 AD [Julian]
2759-07-28 AUC [Julian (Imperial)]
1385-05-19 AP [Persian]

Note that the Islamic calendar transitions from one date to the next at sundown--and that for most (but not all) Muslims it is an observational calendar with no central observational authority, so that the date for one group may be one day different than for another.