I found some of the stuff in the daily rags somewhat disturbing. One suggested that Tony Blair was in direct contact with the lead Tornado pilot and might have been within seconds of having the passenger jet shot down, which raises a number of questions:
1. Was it thought that the aircraft has been hijacked? If not, why was there any consideration to shoot it down? I don't know the current statistics for bomb scares but they used to be not uncommon.
2. Is it really wise to have the PM running the show? Personally I would prefer the final decision to rest with a senior military officer rather than a politician.
3. Given the above, how will Captains react in future to a similar episode? Might they simply ask for a diversion and only reveal the true reason when close to landing?
4. I take the point about Prestwick being a designated diversion for security matters but if the thing is about to blow up it is surely prudent to get on the ground, like fast?
4. Lastly, one report said that the pilot reported the bomb scare to ATC who promptly handed control to the RAF.... Hmmmmm....