Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Flight Deck Forums > Rumours & News
Reload this Page >

Suspected bomb on board El Al 787 30 April 2021

Rumours & News Reporting Points that may affect our jobs or lives as professional pilots. Also, items that may be of interest to professional pilots.

Suspected bomb on board El Al 787 30 April 2021

Old 2nd May 2021, 16:48
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Earth
Posts: 996
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Suspected bomb on board El Al 787 30 April 2021

From AV Herald

An El Al Boeing 787-9, registration 4X-EDH performing flight LY-2 from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Tel Aviv (Israel), was enroute over Spain when the crew advised ATC they suspected a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. Fighter aircraft were dispatched that escorted the aircraft into Italy, where Italian fighter aircraft took over and escorted the aircraft into Greece, where Greek fighter aircraft escorted the aircraft through Greek airspace. When the aircraft entered Cyprus airspace, Israeli fighter aircraft took over and escorted the aircraft to a safe landing in Tel Aviv about 4 hours after the first alert.

Greek Media reported the crew suspected while flying over Spain, that a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. NATO decided to dispatch fighter aircraft which intercepted and escorted the Boeing, at the Spanish-Italien boundary of the airspace Italian fighter aircraft took over until the Boeing entered Greek airspace, where Greek fighter aircraft escorted the Boeing to Cyprus airspace. Israeli fighter aircraft awaited the aircraft in Cyprus airspace and escorted the aircraft to landing in Tel Aviv.

The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Tel Aviv about 14.5 hours after landing.

The airline and Israel's CAA have not yet commented.
Anybody knows what a reason can be for continuing the flight for all those hours with a suspected bomb on board?
Except for standard procedure maybe, any practical reason why fighters need to fly along it for all those hours? Not really much they can do...
johndo is offline  
Old 2nd May 2021, 17:05
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,060
Received 64 Likes on 39 Posts
It is not advisable to discuss tactical details isn't it?
Less Hair is online now  
Old 2nd May 2021, 17:10
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: A place in the sun
Age: 82
Posts: 1,251
Received 44 Likes on 17 Posts
Less Hair is absolutely right, we should not discuss tactics here
Bergerie1 is online now  
Old 2nd May 2021, 17:38
  #4 (permalink)  

Only half a speed-brake
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Commuting not home
Age: 46
Posts: 4,302
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Neither do I.

Is it allowed to discuss meaningless and wild speculations that are purposefully incorrect to confuse and mislead the enemy?
FlightDetent is offline  
Old 2nd May 2021, 17:57
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Age: 58
Posts: 1,903
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Well I guess I am lacking imagination but I don't see how this is making much sense in a "tactical" point of view. Let's see what transpires in the coming hours / days, if anything.
atakacs is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 01:47
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 27N
Age: 59
Posts: 138
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thankfully a false warning apparently:

Bomb Warning
8driver is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 03:49
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: India
Age: 85
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
This is how NATO waste's energy, six fighters with after burners, crowding the air traffic unnecessarily, a mere show of friendliness to Israel. With a suspected bomb warning, a passenger air liner should land immediately and evacuate, a better flight safety action.

Last edited by mayam13; 3rd May 2021 at 04:16. Reason: spell check
mayam13 is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 04:23
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denver
Posts: 1,216
Received 12 Likes on 7 Posts
I am not privy to any "secret tactics," but common sense tells me that even in a bomb-on-board situation, there are quite good reasons for a fighter escort.

1) provide eyeballs on the plane in trouble: suppose the transponder signal (or COM transmission) disappears? Is it an explosion, or an electrical fault, or a reversion to a Plan B (attempted hijacking)? An escorting jet can see whether the plane is still there, or making hand signals, or has too many people in the cockpit. Radar can't.

1a) And, of course, take tragic-but-necessary action if the situation has fallen completely under unfriendly control - or literally out of control altogether.

2) provide asssistance in case of a non-catastrophic explosion (aircraft have survived bombings on occasion): Escorts can - inspect damage/leaks and report to flight crew - provide navigation help in case of instrument/NAV damage - relay messages - report situation in general to ground - request emergency response on landing if civilian crew cannot.

3) As to why fly for 4 additional hours to Tel Aviv? El Al is a special case (they have a - history - of being a prime target). And they have the strictest security on the planet.

Again, I have no clue as to their actual tactical options. But as a neutral observer, I'd imagine that Israel would really, really prefer that if there is even the possibility of a bad-actor on board, that (s)he be de-planed directly into their custody. Without "complications" from the laws, judges, extradition agreements, or politics of the other countries enroute.
pattern_is_full is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 07:49
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tring, UK
Posts: 1,822
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
I don't think it is giving much away to put forward that if you *really* thought there was a bomb on board, would you carry on to your final destination while overflying lots of airfields? Just saying...
FullWings is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 09:03
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: GA, USA
Posts: 3,182
Likes: 0
Received 11 Likes on 8 Posts
There are lots of reasons why you may not want to land in even a “neutral” country let alone a country that is sympathetic to your domestic enemies.
Enough said.
B2N2 is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 09:13
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: A place in the sun
Age: 82
Posts: 1,251
Received 44 Likes on 17 Posts
In reality, there is very little that is secret or confidential that Prooners could give away and which would be of help to a real terrorist. However, there have been more than enough nutters around who, in the past, have manufactured false bomb warnings. My reasons for counselling against discussing bomb threats is to ensure they gain no help from any of us.
Bergerie1 is online now  
Old 3rd May 2021, 09:20
  #12 (permalink)  
Pegase Driver
 
Join Date: May 1997
Location: Europe
Age: 73
Posts: 3,656
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It is always amazing to see people jumping to conclusions after a media news report . I do not know who "Channel 12" is and what was their source.
One thing I know first hand is that the procedures for dealing with these issues are done by experts, who know what they are doing by now, and are really not for discussion in an open Internet forum .
ATC Watcher is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 11:36
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 11,835
Likes: 0
Received 30 Likes on 25 Posts
The experts only need to be wrong once
Kiltrash is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 13:02
  #14 (permalink)  
Pegase Driver
 
Join Date: May 1997
Location: Europe
Age: 73
Posts: 3,656
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Agree but they have not been so far. In fact the ones we dealt with in my time were very good. And those of the nationality of the aircraft involved here are probably among the best there are in the world .
ATC Watcher is offline  
Old 3rd May 2021, 21:05
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: away from home
Posts: 887
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
B2N2

Perhaps they did not want anyone, even a “friendly” police force looking around in the cargo compartments...
oceancrosser is offline  
Old 4th May 2021, 06:04
  #16 (permalink)  
BRE
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Europe
Posts: 256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
B2N2

Such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece?
BRE is offline  
Old 4th May 2021, 12:40
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: A little South of North
Posts: 275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
So many assumptions made here on near to zero facts. Rest assured that the situation would have been discussed and evaluated by all parties concerned and that the final decision to continue was made according to all the factual information they had (and which we haven't got). Pre departure security on ELY flights is very intense.
Pistonprop is offline  
Old 4th May 2021, 16:58
  #18 (permalink)  
BRE
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Europe
Posts: 256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Maybe the found the bomb and used the battery chute to chuck it?
BRE is offline  
Old 4th May 2021, 17:20
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Reading, UK
Posts: 15,786
Received 196 Likes on 90 Posts
Pistonprop

True.

Though of course the crucial fact - that there was no bomb on board - was not, and could not have been, definitively established until after arrival at TLV.
DaveReidUK is offline  
Old 4th May 2021, 18:09
  #20 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: A little South of North
Posts: 275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sure, maybe! My point is that they had a lot more pertinent details at hand to make a risk assessment with. How was the bomb warning made? The crew quite rightly reported it to ATC. After that it may well have been that further investigation by all (El Al) parties involved concluded that it was highly likely to be a hoax and the decision was made to continue. The bottom line is that we just don't know. I am however convinced that they knew exactly what they were doing.
Pistonprop is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.