Qatar Airways Bomb Threat
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Qatar Airways Bomb Threat
BBC has reported that Qatari Flight No. QR001 en route Doha to London today 22nd Feb has made emergency landing in Damascus following bomb threat.
Aircraft is A330 with approx. 188 passengers and 13 crew on board.
Hope all is OK.
Aircraft is A330 with approx. 188 passengers and 13 crew on board.
Hope all is OK.
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El Lunatic?
From the Qatar "The Peninsula"(23/2):
"A London-bound Qatar Airways plane made an emergency landing in Damascus and a Doha-bound flight was detained at Cairo for nearly three hours after the airline faced bomb hoaxes within hours of each other yesterday.
“Both were false alarms and all the passengers, crew and aircraft are perfectly safe,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at a hastily-arranged press briefing late last evening after the curtains came down on both incidents.
The Doha-London flight, carrying some 243 passengers, earlier in the day asked for permission to land in Damascus after a female Spanish passenger claimed there was a bomb on board.
“She told this to a couple of British passengers who promptly informed the crew. At that time the plane was in Turkish airspace and the two options available to the captain were Istanbul and Damascus. He chose the latter because Istanbul airport was covered in snow,” said Akbar.
The flight landed safely and the woman, aged between 20 and 25, was taken into custody by Syrian officials. Syrian Interior Minister Ali Hammud later told reporters in Damascus that her “mind was unbalanced.” The Spanish woman boarded at Kathmandu, transited Doha, and booked on an onward flight London to Barcelona.
Akbar said Syrian security officials had thoroughly checked the entire aircraft and found no explosives. The flight was preparing for its onward journey to London Heathrow at the time of filing this report.
In the second incident, a threat written in Arabic on a tissue caused the Cairo-Doha flight, with 147 passengers on board to be delayed for about three hours at Cairo International Airport. Agency reports said said somebody had left a note saying “Bin Laden...the plane will blow up on take-off.”
The passengers had already disembarked when the note was discovered by a cleaner in seat number 25B. A complete security check revealed that the note was a hoax and there was no threat to the aircraft and the flight was operated.
Akbar said authorities in Damascus and Cairo are conducting investigations into the respective incidents. The Spanish woman, he added, could face a hefty sentence under Syrian law.
While stressing that it was pure coincidence that two such events should take place on the same day, Akbar said it was not just Qatar Airways but all airlines in the region who could face such problems owing to the current situation. “It is in times such as these that people who get a kick out of playing practical jokes have a field day,” he said.
He emphasised that Qatar Airways is one of the safest airlines in the world and Doha International Airport now has unique technical capabilities to ensure the safety of passengers. “We are the only airline in the world at the moment to have a mobile security unit which is already being used on certain flights,” the CEO said.
Replying to a question, he said the reports two weeks back of two Al Qaeda suspects being arrested on a Qatar Airways flight out of Pakistan “were rumours.”
"A London-bound Qatar Airways plane made an emergency landing in Damascus and a Doha-bound flight was detained at Cairo for nearly three hours after the airline faced bomb hoaxes within hours of each other yesterday.
“Both were false alarms and all the passengers, crew and aircraft are perfectly safe,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at a hastily-arranged press briefing late last evening after the curtains came down on both incidents.
The Doha-London flight, carrying some 243 passengers, earlier in the day asked for permission to land in Damascus after a female Spanish passenger claimed there was a bomb on board.
“She told this to a couple of British passengers who promptly informed the crew. At that time the plane was in Turkish airspace and the two options available to the captain were Istanbul and Damascus. He chose the latter because Istanbul airport was covered in snow,” said Akbar.
The flight landed safely and the woman, aged between 20 and 25, was taken into custody by Syrian officials. Syrian Interior Minister Ali Hammud later told reporters in Damascus that her “mind was unbalanced.” The Spanish woman boarded at Kathmandu, transited Doha, and booked on an onward flight London to Barcelona.
Akbar said Syrian security officials had thoroughly checked the entire aircraft and found no explosives. The flight was preparing for its onward journey to London Heathrow at the time of filing this report.
In the second incident, a threat written in Arabic on a tissue caused the Cairo-Doha flight, with 147 passengers on board to be delayed for about three hours at Cairo International Airport. Agency reports said said somebody had left a note saying “Bin Laden...the plane will blow up on take-off.”
The passengers had already disembarked when the note was discovered by a cleaner in seat number 25B. A complete security check revealed that the note was a hoax and there was no threat to the aircraft and the flight was operated.
Akbar said authorities in Damascus and Cairo are conducting investigations into the respective incidents. The Spanish woman, he added, could face a hefty sentence under Syrian law.
While stressing that it was pure coincidence that two such events should take place on the same day, Akbar said it was not just Qatar Airways but all airlines in the region who could face such problems owing to the current situation. “It is in times such as these that people who get a kick out of playing practical jokes have a field day,” he said.
He emphasised that Qatar Airways is one of the safest airlines in the world and Doha International Airport now has unique technical capabilities to ensure the safety of passengers. “We are the only airline in the world at the moment to have a mobile security unit which is already being used on certain flights,” the CEO said.
Replying to a question, he said the reports two weeks back of two Al Qaeda suspects being arrested on a Qatar Airways flight out of Pakistan “were rumours.”
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A300Man,
Not sure, but this quote from the Gulf Times implies that it is a peice of equipment.
"Qatar Airways, he said, is the only airline in the world to procure a mobile security unit that screens all baggage and cargo. Even some American airline companies have placed orders for the equipment only after Qatar Airways did, he said."
Not sure, but this quote from the Gulf Times implies that it is a peice of equipment.
"Qatar Airways, he said, is the only airline in the world to procure a mobile security unit that screens all baggage and cargo. Even some American airline companies have placed orders for the equipment only after Qatar Airways did, he said."
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Its a bus with an Xray machine in! Used to screen passengers that have been screened already.... but not to screen cargo that has just come from Subcontinent!....... political gesture??
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For those of you that were unaware, there is virtually no security policy at QR other than breathalysing crews. Only very very recently were any contingency plans made in for the war (Others made theirs a long time ago).
Also for those that are interested the dwarf recently authorised news reel tapes from Al Jazeera TV to be carried to & from Doha in the cockpit free of charge. I know this happened recently from DXB. We all know of their links with Al Qaeda, make of this what you will.
Also for those that are interested the dwarf recently authorised news reel tapes from Al Jazeera TV to be carried to & from Doha in the cockpit free of charge. I know this happened recently from DXB. We all know of their links with Al Qaeda, make of this what you will.
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ekatehtnohsabuD,
Are you PD from QR? just got suspicious with that username
About Al-Jazeera and Al-Qaeda,
It is very naive to assume that. Let me explain why. Everyone knows that OBL's real aim is to be the ruler of the Arabian Peninsula along with Jordan and Iraq. Now why would the backers of Al-Jazeera cooperate with people who want to kill them and take there place?
The reason why Al-Qaeda issue all there statements through Al-Jazeera is simply because Al-Jazeera is the most widely watched Arab language television network in the world, and the reason why Al-Jazeera publish their statements is simply because it leads to more ratings, money and noteriety.
Are you PD from QR? just got suspicious with that username
About Al-Jazeera and Al-Qaeda,
It is very naive to assume that. Let me explain why. Everyone knows that OBL's real aim is to be the ruler of the Arabian Peninsula along with Jordan and Iraq. Now why would the backers of Al-Jazeera cooperate with people who want to kill them and take there place?
The reason why Al-Qaeda issue all there statements through Al-Jazeera is simply because Al-Jazeera is the most widely watched Arab language television network in the world, and the reason why Al-Jazeera publish their statements is simply because it leads to more ratings, money and noteriety.
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HF
Nothing to be suspicious about, still hapilly among you!
I wasnt being naive, all I said is make of it what you will...and you have.... If look on the internet you'll see numerous sources linking AlQaeda with Doha & Qatar (not just the Al Jazeera links). Also you'll find the same sort of links with UAE, Bahrain etc. Theres no smoke without fire.
Having said that I could not begin to think in a million years that Al Jazeeras motive are quite as innocent as you like to believe, but everybody has their own opinion to it.
Something I saw on the way to the marriot only last week leads me to believe that there is underlying tension (to what level I don't know) but we should at least be careful and heed advise.
Nothing to be suspicious about, still hapilly among you!
I wasnt being naive, all I said is make of it what you will...and you have.... If look on the internet you'll see numerous sources linking AlQaeda with Doha & Qatar (not just the Al Jazeera links). Also you'll find the same sort of links with UAE, Bahrain etc. Theres no smoke without fire.
Having said that I could not begin to think in a million years that Al Jazeeras motive are quite as innocent as you like to believe, but everybody has their own opinion to it.
Something I saw on the way to the marriot only last week leads me to believe that there is underlying tension (to what level I don't know) but we should at least be careful and heed advise.
