As a precaution it would probably be wise to remove the passenger from the flight asap. Is it possible to open the doors on an airliner whilst it is in flight? Do passenger jets carry a parachute for such events? Should they not be made mandatory? Imagine the psychological stress a crew would face if forced to disembark someone en-route without a parachute.

"Imagine the psychological stress a crew would face if forced to disembark someone en-route without a parachute."


That pales into insignificance compared to the stress I am suffering from reading posts like the above, and to be frank, most of the rest of this thread:rolleyes:

Cell phone operation is prohibited in flight. Plot foiled.

Seriously; any trigger would have to involve some external actuation. If its a contact placed under the skin, the individual could actuate it themselves. I don't know how easy it would be for the cabin crew/passengers to immobilize someone to prevent such action. How would they know exactly where the trigger was placed? If its by GSM (or other short range radio), the trigger signal could be provided by an accomplice on the aircraft. Or perhaps on the ground. But the attenuation of a subcutaneous receiver could render that somewhat problematic.

Its probably on a level with an underpants bomb. Not well researched by the perpetrators, so its probability of success is about as high as lighting a sweaty pair of BVDs.

What's up with all the fuss over the fighter escort?

This has occurred numerous time in recent years, both in or approaching US airspace and in Europe - In Europe I recall a flight that lost radio contact that ended up with a couple of Dutch (I think) F-16's on it's arse - simply because the crew mis-dialed a comm frequency.

Hopefully we will never need to find out if someone has/hasn't got the balls to perform a shoot down, but I suspect if it did occur it would involve cannon fire initially as a warning, and then some holes in something less populated than the main cabin.

Now turning to the concept of implant 'bombs' there is a massive temptation on my part to head toward Jet Blast territory with this... must.... resist.... :mad:

False statement. Try learning a few facts before you make such baseless assertions.

To the case at hand: were the b o o b i e s red herrings?

This cross species referencing must stop at once, as we might end up with mad cowpoke disease! :eek:

No, it turns out they were just *falsies*.... :}

A surgically planted bomb? That would take some skill and a fair degree of bravery from the surgeon. Also its inaccessible, and the trigger mechanisms may be very difficult.

Surgically implanted bombs arent impossible but are more likely to be the product of a paranoid schizophrenic's thought mechanisms.

Body packing, however, is a completely different thing and is entirely possible and feasible for concealing a bomb and gaining access during flight.

Yeah, and did they shoot it down?

And no one will squawk 75 anymore. Only one more thing to worry about, being shot down.

Very obvious that several people making strong and assertive statements in this thread are not and never have been commercial pilots, a few more know little or nothing about explosives and how to detonate them.

There are and have been for a very long time a clear set of rules for an intercept, not going into details here but commercial pilots all know what to expect and then what to do if they discover they have a fighter aircraft formating on their left hand side and endeavoring to communicate with them. There are certain visual signals and maneuvers that will leave the civilian aircraft in no doubt as to what is to happen next, these are all internationally agreed and (should) be well known to all commercial pilots regardless of their nationality. There are major and obvious differences between an aircraft following it's flight plan but has simply lost comms. and one that has deviated without clearance and is maneuvering in an unusual or suspicious way.

It is only after all recognised attempts to communicate have failed and the aircrafts intentions remain threatening that any action would be taken. As I thought I made clear at the beginning, these rules have all been revisited since September 2001.

If were to design an implanted bomb, I would probably use a reed relay in the detonator circuit, held in the 'off' position by an external magnet.

That way, any interference with the magnet would destroy all the evidence.

No need for mobile phones, hand-held transmitters, etc.

Nowadays, with secure cockpit doors and all the procedures, the possibilty of another 9/11 is almost zero.

Before, it was "fly to Cuba", then hostages and then 9/11.

Next time it will be something totally different. Not IF, but WHEN. But they will not use methods that we have prepared for. They are not as stupid as some think.

They seem to have won. They make terror and make our lives miserable.

Cosmetic surgery
 

Breast implant filled with 10cl of liquid, explosive, with a tilt switch would work.

Where is Jordan when she is needed...just research honest...

BBC News - No charges for woman who caused US jet 'implant' alert

I suppose there is no point in prosecuting and jailing a nutter.

All just a big misunderstanding?
 

Oh boy. The nutters on PPRuNe have gone nuts for nothing.

A while back I had a First Officer who exploded on departure from Bombay - apparently something internal which went out of control.

Delhi Belly?

cowhorse - You are being both mischievous and deliberately ingenuous!

I can only assume you are being sarcastic.
Since when has being informed that electronic devices, including mobile phones, must be switched off, been any deterrent? We have all seen people who continue to use them even after a personal request has been made and just how long does it take to switch one back on again even when it has been switched off as required? :rolleyes: :ugh:

svhar - selecting A7500 would be safer, its the quiet ones that cause concern......

The decision matrix is not "comm contact lost, shoot jet."
You realize that, right?

For example, there was no cueing that a particular comms contact lost was out of the ordinary until the first jet hit a building. At that point, during a time in which the presumption of that tactic was not on the table, the timeline to get whatever alerts (and perhaps tankers?) were at hand up, and then within the vicinity of an unknown number of jets of interst (which of the hundreds in the air, and where are they?) across an entire continent does not lead to your posited FOUR opportunities.

Maybe 1, maybe 2, depending on how you reconstruct the time and space problems. As I suspect you are aware, while it is all going down, figuring out which flights are potential hazards takes time.

Exactly.

And the PR for a government - whether shooting down the 'right jet' filled with innocent hostages or the 'wrong' jet that was mis-identified as a threat is disastrous, possibly terminal and wonderful for the terrorists.

The idea that we would shoot down a civilian airliner, taken hostage or not is ridiculous and it should be stated with no reservation that we don't do it & any loss of lives from a terrorist act is only the responsibility of the terrorists & not our reaction to their act.

i only can imagine she exploded hard last night and was still under impression ? ;)

the costs of this thing the airline will bill her for surely cool her down...

I agree with Load Toad. The idea of shooting down a plane is totally absurd.

Then the terrorists have won big time. Hysteria everywhere. One wrong word uttered, hysteria. We have taken the course of action that they hoped for.

In my opinion, there are only two ways. Let them live their way or eliminate them. Teaching others a lesson does not work. Read some history books.

To really bugger us up, is to add a little something to the Chinese/Indian take- aways on a Friday night. Army, Air force and Navy will be on the loo.

Sorted!!!!


Ps. I'm awaiting first reports of the tampon bomber:E Built in fuse, if you know what I mean:E

Absolutely correct although I wouldn't say everywhere. The Americans are the undisputed masters of hysterical OTT reactions. Seen it personally more than once. To be honest, the sheer hysterical reactions of some Americans frightens me more than the terrorists do!

Found on another site:
That is yet another problem with so-called "security": When people make obvious threats, they are let off, often without even a hand-slap.

What was the "obvious" threat exactly INTRUDER? My interpretation is that something said innocently by a French national struggling with the English language was (wrongly) perceived to be a threat by an American crew.

For this, said person is now (rightly) released and yet (wrongly) refused entry into the USA. That tells you a lot about the hysteria and absurd logic which now prevails with the American authorities. The loonies are in charge of the asylum!

I work daily with a multitude of nationalities. Even though most have a reasonably good to fair command of the English language it is not unusual to find them sometimes lacking clarity when expressing themselves in non standard situations. American hysteria has programmed the public, airline crews, and officials to consider anything which they don't understand as a threat.

Is it not possable to have a helicopter hover above the plane and some SAS members climb onboard and cut a hole in the fuz and then go in and kill the baddies or to drain the fuels from the tanks etc limiting the range it could fly ???????

Pilot 999
 

now what was that movie called...

Airport 1975. Although in the movie they didn't have to cut any hole in the fuselage seeing as there was already a big gaping hole in the pointy end nor were there any "baddies" to kill.
Possibly one of the worst "disaster movies" ever made by man... :ugh:

Presenting a prepared note of that type to the flight attendant is NOT typical of "innocently... struggling with the English language." It is more typical of, as others have pointed out, "probing" or other reconnaissance.

I tend to believe the threat was real, even if not immediate.

There was a scenario not unlike that in "Executive Decision." Now that was a truly awful movie!