I understand the concept of detonation in a sealed, pressurised tube 35,000 feet up, but there are probably tenfold the amount of people waiting in queues before passing security - obviously a point our Dr friends in Glasgow picked up on.
I'm glad there has been a conviction in this case, and I fully believe it will be nigh on impossible to get any kind of weapons, bombs or otherwise, aboard an aircraft nowadays.
My main concern is the airport as a whole, where thousands of people are centralised in a place hard to get out of when things go wrong. Although that's true for all public places, airports seem to attract terrorists for some reason....
I find it most interesting that the methods employed by the TSA are more of a block than the measures here. Saying that, my last experience with the TSA wasn't pleasant. I also believe that a "tooled up" cockpit is the way to go - no self respecting terrorist would attempt to takeover an armed cockpit. Why do the Americans once again triumph, but we're left defenceless, relying on the already mentioned unprofessional professional security team.
Sorry, I've turned my post into a "Airport Security General" post rather than the topic at hand.
I see both points regards to the "Sealed factory goods" point: it would be too easy to inject some form of weapon into a sealed bottle, leaving no visible marks. However, I doubt something that can be injected would be volatile enough to cause any significant threat.
It's beyond me that people are allowed a box of matches onboard, but not a Coke.
