Patti

Is it true that a Virgin Air plane was forced to land in Newfoundland due to a bomb scare on board?. I heard Canadian jet fighters escourted it to land.

Vita

Yes <BR> <BR>http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe...eat/index.html

StCirq

Yes, and a flight from Spain (Barcelona, I think) to Miami was escorted by fighter planes after the pilot received a bomb threat. Does anyone really want to be in the skies these days? I am torn between the increased security and the increased threats.

Notworried

I wouldn't be too concerned as any idiot can phone in a bomb threat - i remember when we used to get them at high school regularly & would have to evacuate...funny how they usually always occurred during exam time...needless to say not once did the threats amount to anything.

Rex

Having your plane "downed" - - in another country!! - - is hardly "no big deal"!! <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Pedro

Please, St Cirq where did you find "your" notice about a supposed threat from "Barcelona" to Miami? I am just curious. I have been following closely the news these days and heard about the Virgin flight diverted.

A frequent poster

I am a little worried about fellow Fodorites who seem to be insisting that it is "brave" to travel by air right now. And that "no one is going to stop me from leaving on a trip". Being brave is different from being bull-headed. <BR>Think it over for the time being please.

Lauren

I also feel that people are being bullheaded about overseas travel right now--and I have been attacked for saying so. <BR> <BR>The whole idea that vacation travel post September 11th is just as it was before September 11th is nutty. Even assuming your plane will have 6 air marshalls and you will get to your destination without incident or delay, tell me: What guarantee do you have that you will be able to get back when you are supposed to return? <BR> <BR>If you have bags of cash to cover strandings and don't have to worry about your job, go ahead and travel overseas. Otherwise, think about it. <BR> <BR>And, if you think traveling right now will get you away from the September 11th terrorist attack, it won't. For myself, I am too overwhelmed with grief to think of traveling right now. I couldn't have a good time feeling like this. And, folks, this feeling of utter despair--and terror--will not go away anytime soon. As anyone who lived through the Kennedy assassination knows, coping is not measured in days or months but in years--and your life will never be the same. <BR> <BR>People who loudly declaim they are going to travel no matter what ought to reflect a bit more--at least in my opinion.

sjoerd

Lauren: after the JFK assassination it took just a few weeks for the economy (shopping, travel, etc.) to get back to normal. If we change our way of life as a result of last week's attacks, the terrorists have won. I had planned to go to Canada next week and I am still planning to go.

hope

My friend's son & family were on tht flight, they tried to get back to NY ASApo and that was what happened. (Gander) Scary for all concerned.

dan woodlief

Lauren, no doubt I am concerned. My wife and I won't decide whether to go to Italy up until the week of our trip. I have never felt afraid to fly until this past week, and I kind of feel like going ahead with it will help me deal with the feelings I have had since last Tuesday. It is a very personal decision for everyone.

Tom

Not to minimize the threat of terrorism, but ... <BR> <BR>Remember the panic just a few short weeks ago about the "rash" of shark attacks? Only to find out that the number of attacks this year has been quite on a par with past experience. <BR> <BR>Gander and Bangor airports make a very tidy living, indeed, "hosting" airliners made the subject of bomb threats. One would have to do some research as to exact historical numbers, but they're quite common, especially on international flights. I should expect the number normally comes to dozens a year, if not more. <BR> <BR>Citing such events doesn't add, or detract, from the dangers present or not present in taking a holiday in Europe. What such events tell you, at this time, is how there are sick people in the world who like to play "copycat". <BR> <BR>Ask how many memorial services planned for last week in a number of municipalities were cancelled due to bomb threats. <BR> <BR>Indeed, it's probably reasonable to consider/reconsider a trip overseas. Do be careful, though, to consider the facts, and not be swayed by events that normally pass every day without notice. <BR> <BR>And do remember what daily life is like for so many others. Terrorists in Spain, France, the IRA in Ireland and England. <BR> <BR>Terrorism is not something new. What the US is experiencing is new only in magnitude and geography. <BR> <BR>While fully supporting our announced war on terrorism, I doubt it will be a brief war, nor one with an end in my lifetime. The threat won't be over next week, or next year, or in five years. There have been terrorists for a long time. There are many. New ones enlist every day. We may reduce them. I doubt we'll eliminate all. <BR> <BR>Much, perhaps all, of the rest of the world have learned to live their lives more or less normally in the face of demented zealots. We shall have to as well. <BR> <BR>

Liz

Sitting at home, postponing trips, purchases, plans, etc, will only help the terrorists' cause. They not only wanted to destroy as many lives as possible, but they wanted to destroy our economy too. Rest assured that those of you who are quaking in your boots at home, putting your lives on hold, are only helping the terrorists!

Lauren

To the person who said that the Kennedy assassination only disrupted life in the US for a short time, you are wrong. <BR> <BR>The Kennedy assassination was to me a cataclysmic event. To a large extent lots of us who lived through it never got over it. <BR> <BR>And September 11th was much, much worse. Anyone who thinks that travel now is the same as travel before September 11th is living in a dream world. <BR> <BR>As I contemplate home exchanging for next summer, I doubt that lots of Europeans will want to come to Washington, DC (where I live). As for me, a home exchange in Toronto or Montreal is looking good. I could DRIVE there.

Nora

Well, it is a personal decision and one shouldn't be bullied into either staying or going on a trip overseas. <BR>Europe will be there next year, and our family will go then if it seems a prudent idea. <BR>Even if this is a travel site, one shouldn't put travel above all else, including reason. I noticed on some other threads people were getting pretty hot-headed over the virtues of travel at this time. Who can say? <BR>Keep travel in perspective.

minbrooklyn

One thing people are either ignoring, don't deem important, or don't want to think about is that the US is most likely going to launch a military strike against (at least) Afghanistan very shortly. Who knows what will happen immediately following that attack? I didn't delay my trip to Paris (we were scheduled to leave Sept 13) because I was afraid to fly, I delayed it because I didn't know what the world situation would be. <BR> <BR>Waiting a month or a few months seems like a small sacrifice. We've obviously entered into a new era. We should face it with a real sense of practicality and common sense. I don't think the terrorists will have "won" if we put our European leisure trips on hold. <BR> <BR>They will have more of a victory if we plunge our stock market further and further down. <BR> <BR>M in Brooklyn

travelling

I am going ahead with my flight to Italy tomorrow as scheduled. I don't necessarily think it is safe, but it is safer than it was prior to 9/11. Security is tighter than ever. In addition, Bin Laden's group never seems to do the same thing twice, which is smart for them as it reduces their chances of being caught. As far as the world situation, I may very well be stuck in Tuscany if a war breaks out. I can think of worse things. For all I know, this will lead to a major war and I could be drafted. I'm taking my vacation first. In all fairness, I have no responsibilities outside of work. If I had children I would cancel. I don't see it as bravado. I see it as carrying on and trying to restore my life. I don't want to live in an America where I hide out in a bunker because I am afraid of a maniac at the supermarket with a sharpened guava half. That seems to be the way we are going.