Lap top and tablet ban
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Florida and wherever my laptop is
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The reason for the ban in the first place.....
"U.S. believes ISIS' bomb-making research includes new generation of explosives
Amid the bombed-out ruins of Mosul University, U.S. officials say they have uncovered evidence that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was developing a new type of bomb that could pass through an airport scanner undetected.
CBS News joined Iraqi Special Forces in Mosul just days after the hard-fought battle to recapture the University in January. It's long been believed that Mosul University was the center of the militants' bomb-making projects, using the school's equipment and labs. "
More at....
U.S. believes ISIS' bomb-making research includes new generation of explosives - CBS News
"U.S. believes ISIS' bomb-making research includes new generation of explosives
Amid the bombed-out ruins of Mosul University, U.S. officials say they have uncovered evidence that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was developing a new type of bomb that could pass through an airport scanner undetected.
CBS News joined Iraqi Special Forces in Mosul just days after the hard-fought battle to recapture the University in January. It's long been believed that Mosul University was the center of the militants' bomb-making projects, using the school's equipment and labs. "
More at....
U.S. believes ISIS' bomb-making research includes new generation of explosives - CBS News
Join Date: Sep 2009
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Ian W thanks and that's interesting. But now that D.J Chump has blown the whistle on the laptop idea, what's to stop ISIS putting this clever new 'undetectable' stuff in pretty well anything a PAX might take on board. And it'd be easier than replumbing a laptop.
Join Date: Sep 2014
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A working explosive is composed of several elements. These elements can be disguised within a laptop, large tablet, etc.
Put them into a box of chocolates or a can of Pringles, they would be very easy to detect.
Put them into a box of chocolates or a can of Pringles, they would be very easy to detect.
Join Date: Mar 2002
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requiring them in checked luggage is not only for detection but also isolation (containment)
If they go boom as baggage the damage is variable as hell based on location.
If they go boom in the cabin the damage is predictable based on seat location and/or overhead storage which is specific by PNR (boarding pass).
And then there is the fire hazard from a typical LI cheap battery in passenger luggage. In the overhead or cabin it's specific in location and ability to assess and contain. In the baggage hold it's the stuff that causes extreme workload on the flight crew's decisions vs time and distance to an airport.
I'll leave it to the airline safety guys to sort out the pro and cons and costs vs risk avoidance.
Join Date: Sep 2014
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That's an incomplete analysis.
Anyway, the risk assessment was already performed by DHS, and here we are. I'm not privy to anything secret, but knowing some information which have been disclosed, I find the assessment convincing.
Anyway, the risk assessment was already performed by DHS, and here we are. I'm not privy to anything secret, but knowing some information which have been disclosed, I find the assessment convincing.
Join Date: Mar 2002
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That's an incomplete analysis.
So, the public has no say in this unless we understand the reasoning. But we are the ones that need to comply
Join Date: Feb 2000
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And 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
Point being that the fact that the Saudi Government may have good relationships with the US on some levels doesn't preclude the possibilities of terrorists existing in the country.
Point being that the fact that the Saudi Government may have good relationships with the US on some levels doesn't preclude the possibilities of terrorists existing in the country.
Join Date: May 2009
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Saudi Arabian airports are not (yet) on the list of airports where laptops are banned.
I wonder if the 110 billion (over 10 years) weapons deal had anything to do with that?
I wonder if the 110 billion (over 10 years) weapons deal had anything to do with that?
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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A small boom set by a clever attacker in the right place is going to be as big a threat as a large boom placed randomly, and that's before we get onto stuff like shaped charges and really clever placement.
I strongly suspect this is the issue.
Join Date: Mar 2014
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I've been a management/technology consultant flying weekly for 20 years now, and if this ban were extended to all domestic and international flights, I'd likely either find an alternative to in-person meetings or switch careers if it were not feasible. I haven't checked a bag (save for gate checking carry-ons on puddle jumpers) in years. I keep my timelines from landing to meeting starts pretty tight, and I count on flying time for working. I'm not unique, such a rule would be devastating for business travel.
There is always an element of business travel that is not really necessary but its hard line to draw between beneficial and essential. There are also events like conferences where most of the attendees dont' actually attend but meet with peers from other companies and do business just because lot of peopel from one industry are in the same place. Ie the conference itself isnt really 'necessary' but its a good opportunity to meet clients and suppliers without doing separate trips.
Video links are usually fine for inside the company work and some external stuff but many cultures like the physical presence bit .
So i can see the rule reducing things but perhaps not by that much, while working on the plane is sometimes a good idea for many a flight is an opportunity to have a rest and serious think which can be a rarity in todays world.
very hard to keep ahead of the bad guys but as I ahave said before it is foolish of the USA to make such restrictions when there is just as much risk from flying domestic US which always seems to have the lowest level of security in spite of being the proven biggest area of risk
Video links are usually fine for inside the company work and some external stuff but many cultures like the physical presence bit .
So i can see the rule reducing things but perhaps not by that much, while working on the plane is sometimes a good idea for many a flight is an opportunity to have a rest and serious think which can be a rarity in todays world.
very hard to keep ahead of the bad guys but as I ahave said before it is foolish of the USA to make such restrictions when there is just as much risk from flying domestic US which always seems to have the lowest level of security in spite of being the proven biggest area of risk
Join Date: Dec 2010
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Back to basics
The thread here seems to have drifted to business travellers and their influences.
But can I ask - the professional pilots here have to sit at the sharp end... how comfortable (or otherwise) does the thought of a new type of bomb in a laptop ( or whatever) make them feel?
Yes, there is only a slight chance of it disrupting an individual flight but, as someone once said... "for each flight, it's 50-50 - it either will, or it won't..."
But can I ask - the professional pilots here have to sit at the sharp end... how comfortable (or otherwise) does the thought of a new type of bomb in a laptop ( or whatever) make them feel?
Yes, there is only a slight chance of it disrupting an individual flight but, as someone once said... "for each flight, it's 50-50 - it either will, or it won't..."
