Two missiles in cargo hold on Air Serbia flight from Beirut

[maDJam]

The Associated Press

Serbia’s authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for Portland contained two missiles with explosive warheads on a passenger flight from Lebanon.

N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at Belgrade airport.

Serbian media say documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland. The American-made projectiles can be fired from air, sea or ground platforms.

N1 reported Sunday that Air Serbia is helping in the investigation. The Serbian flag carrier says “security and safety are the main priorities for Air Serbia.

No confirmation of date, but the last flight from BEY to BEG was Saturday early morning... there is no flight on Sunday.
2016-03-12
Beirut (BEY) Belgrade (BEG) A319 (YU-APC) 04:00 AM EET 04:48 AM 05:50 AM CET Landed 06:22 AM

Here's what an AGM-114 looks like
https://lintvkoin.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/lockheed_martin_longbow_hellfire.jpg?w=650

Security have in the past refused entry of my ADS-B receiver, Bose A20 & a desktop computer:=. How did it get through airport security here in Beirut? :suspect:

This is not the first breach of security at OLBA remember the couple of stowaways and the recent drug export scandal (on a private 737-BBJ) involving a member of the Saudi royal family.

So maybe there was something more sinister with the Ethiopian crash 6 year back...

[safelife]

Air freight (still) doesn't go thru security at airports.

[unworry]

"The Serbian state news agency Tanjug reported that the missiles had been packed in wooden coffins."

In Serbian, the same word is used for a coffin and a crate (sanduk).

/JustSaying

[Scuffers]

other reports on this suggest they were dummy missiles sent to Lebanon for training, and being being shipped back after the exercise concluded.

Report: Missiles Found on Lebanon-Serbia Flight for Army Training Purposes ? Naharnet (http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/204472-report-missiles-found-on-lebanon-serbia-flight-for-army-training-purposes)

orriginal report (in arabic) is here:

http://www.aljoumhouria.com/news/index/296150

[surely not]

Safelife you will find x ray scanners at cargo reception points that are capable of scanning freight.

For any really unusually large pieces of freight there are procedures in place for acceptance and to make as certain as possible that it is safe

There are even scanners that can x-ray the freight in situ in the articulated lorries that bring it to the cargo shed.

So whilst I do not have first hand knowledge of the screening available at Beirut, it is not true to say that air freight isn't screened anywhere else.

[Dr Jay]

If they were dummy warheads, why did the sniffer dogs pick them up ?

[Lonewolf_50]

other reports on this suggest they were dummy missiles sent to Lebanon for training, and being being shipped back after the exercise concluded.
Hmm, sounds plausible but nowhere enough drama. Thus it can't be true. :8:}

[The Ancient Geek]

Dummy ordnance is always clearly marked with red stripes and text labelling such as "Drill purposes", "DP", or "Dummy".

[harrryw]

Missing U.S. Missile Shows Up in Cuba - WSJ (http://www.wsj.com/articles/missing-u-s-missile-shows-up-in-cuba-1452213667)
not the first time
and it will not be the last

[Scuffers]

the question has to be asked, just how appropriate it is for military hardware to be shipped by commercial carriers?

Carriers are some of the worst paying employers, they pay their staff peanuts, you then wonder why some of them turn out to be monkey's.

Anybody that regularly uses them will know just how often stuff get's miss-routed, and whilst that's annoying for 99.9% of stuff, this just shows the potential for serious issues.

[Intruder]

Commercial carriers ship military hardware all the time. Most of the time it is properly documented and reaches the intended receiver...

[The Ancient Geek]

Commercial carriers ship military hardware all the time. Most of the time it is properly documented and reaches the intended receiver...

Until you get a cargo fire in 747Combi over the indian ocean.

[Scuffers]

or 747 crash at bagram.

[Rwy in Sight]

Commercial carriers ship military hardware all the time. Most of the time it is properly documented and reaches the intended receiver...
Until you get a cargo fire in 747Combi over the indian ocean.

Which leads me to understand only 747 carrying military equipment crash. Maybe UPS and Asiana would like to know about it.

[The Ancient Geek]

Helderberg was not just a 747 carrying military equipment, it was a passenger flight with a secret (and still undisclosed) military cargo, widely believed to have been rocket fuel, in the hold. The embarrasing coverup continues despite many official enquiries.

Google it if you want the whole sorry tale, we will probably never know the truth.

[Intruder]

Military transports crash, too...

[Scuffers]

Yes, but mil transport planes don't carry civilian paying passengers.

[tdracer]

Helderberg was not just a 747 carrying military equipment, it was a passenger flight with a secret (and still undisclosed) military cargo, widely believed to have been rocket fuel in the hold. The embarrasing coverup continues despite many official enquiries.

Helderberg is believed to have been carrying "Ammonium Perchlorate" (simply known as "AP" to solid rocket types). AP is not rocket fuel as such, but it is a commonly used oxidizer in solid rocket fuel (the Space Shuttle SRB's were AP based). While AP is not particularly flammable, it is a powerful oxidizer - once it does start burning it's nearly impossible to extinguish until the source of the PA is exhausted.

If it was in fact the case that Helderberg was carrying AP, those responsible should have spent their lives in prison for manslaughter :mad:

[jcjeant]

Hello,

Ammonium Perchlorate

This product was also the fuel present in the torpedoes of the russian submarine Kursk
And this was a leak of this product that ignited the blast
In fact in this type of torpedoes the fuel quantity have more explosive power than the warhead !

[deanm]

Scuffers:

>Yes, but mil transport planes don't carry civilian paying passengers.

Tell that to the 8 year-old me (+family) boarding a RNZAF Bristol Freighter from Tengah to Butterworth in the early 70s.

Return flight = S$5.00 & included lunch in a cardboard box + ear defenders.

Magic!

Dean

[underfire]

a dummy round is identified by a blue band rather that a yellow band..

It is the same missile, propellant and all, just without an explosive warhead...it is a solid propellant...

http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/15/37/1441645256-hellfire.jpg

http://www.military-today.com/missiles/hellfire.jpg

EDIT: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/fbi_hellfire_missiles_from_leb.html

[msbbarratt]

It is the same missile, propellant and all, just without an explosive warhead...it is a solid propellant...

There's lots of different types of dummy rounds. There's totally inert ones for handling training, which is probably what's been shipped here. Of these there might be ones that are for ground handling training only but can't fly, and ones that are correctly ballasted and are flight certified, etc. etc.

Then there can be ones that'll fly but have a smaller or no warhead for pilot training. There's certainly instrumented trials rounds that have a telemetry package instead of the warhead, etc. There's a lot of combinations possible once you've got the basic missile package developed.

Someone would have been acting very casually indeed if they'd seen fit to let a round with propellant out of their sight. I'd be no happier about a round full of propellant than with one that has a warhead. Both are pyrotechnics, both can be very dangerous, both have a shelf life and safe handling requirements.