Short memories many of you, in the early 80's a woman was stopped taking a bag through LHR, which she had packed, only she didn't know the bottom was made of explosives and the calculator her 'boyfriend' had given her was in fact a timer detonator.
bjcc, I trust that you are aware (though you failed to mention) that the incident to which you refer, occured when someone attempted to board an El AL flight.
It was El Al's security methods ALONE that thwarted the attempt - the explosives did not show up on an xray or anywhere else. Chances are that if she had been flying with any other airline that day, the plan would have succeeded.
No one here has a problem with El Al type security, so please do not use that incident as an example of what can be achieved by the total drivel we have to put up with on a regular basis.