US-UK cargo plane security alert
 

Since I don't plan to travel via cargo plane, I'm not too worried.

I really enjoyed the theatre with the Emirates jet which had a suspicious package as cargo

They sent up fighters - but what could they have done
They landed it at JFK - but why not at the first possible airport rather than a rather busy airport
They "isolated" it by putting it next to a live taxiway and an El-Al jet which, if you believe the news, is taking irony a step too far.

I also couldn't work out the point of the fighters. What were they going to do - take pots shots at the debris if the plane blew up?

Probably to shoot the passengers so they don't suffer when they hit the ground.

But can you imagine being a passenger and noticing the fighters. I'd have kittens and I'd doubt if the pilot could say anything to make me feel happier - it would be like "Airplane" when they ask if anyone can fly a plane

Unless you're planning on UPSing yourself somewhere - who cares? (But I would leave extra time for security if you're flying anywhere.)

Unless you're planning on UPSing yourself somewhere - who cares?

Well you see, I thought it might be of interest with possibilities of airports being disrupted or possibly closed, geberaly travelling interest really....but clearly I'm an idiot

"clearly I'm an idiot"

Absolutely. There's absolutely no way letting a plane with a bomb on board fly into East Midlands can possibly matter: who on earth would use such a pointless airport? Just a few million Englishpeople - and who cares about them?

There's no likelihood if the bad guys can get stuff onto UPS freighters they'll try getting it into the cargo hold of passenger airlines, is there?

And who gives a stuff that yet another US airline has such pathetic security it lets explosives on board? UPS October 2010, North Western Christmas 2009, American Airlines December 2001.

Um, UPS is NOT an airline. It's just a freight carrier with planes - and has completely differnt rules/regs than passenger planes. Granted they should be much more careful screening their packages in parts of the world where risks are obvious - but I think the ones to be upset are the UPS employees/pilots. I'd be on strike as of minute 1 until security is increased significantly.

FedEx has stopped all of their flights until they can address the issue. UPS seems confused about what they are doing.

Security is probably not at fault here. Even after a tip-off telling them exactly where to look, they just could not pick up any explosive traces with either sniffer dogs or high tech gizmos. Whatever substance was used, it was masked quite effectively by the normal constituents of the printer inks and toners.

An expert on the BBC news channel postulated that these bombs were never intended to explode - that the value to the terrorists in of all this is 1) the ensuing security mayhem, and 2) the possible overreation of the US and British governments. There will probably now be an increase in surveillance of Yemen, leading to a worsening of their relations with the west. Which will further galvanise support for Al-Qaeda in the region - which is exactly what they want.

I hope our response is to improve security discretely, but with as little public posturing and hand-wringing as possible.

An expert on the BBC news channel postulated that these bombs were never intended to explode

so I see...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11657486

I am stating the opinion of one expert on the news channel, given yesterday.

And he has a point.

1) They didn't go off.
2) A tip-off was issued.
3) They were addressed to synagogues - in itself an inflammatory gesture, which would have been completed wasted if the devices had gone off mid-air.
4) The engineering of the bomb was described as the most sophisticated ever seen in this type of device. Are we to believe that someone capable of doing this was incapable of making a working detonator?

So a bomb designed to go off in mid air was addressed to a synagogue.

Al-Qaeda is really taking the piss.