This story should be front-page in any countries that are participating in the War on Liquids, which could have literally cost a life. If the patient had died as a result of this, it would mean that airport "security" has cost one life--and saved zero, resulting in a net loss of life. It's already been noted that the increase in driving to avoid the TSA has resulted in more deaths than 9/11 itself.
If the private airplane were not available to come to the rescue:
Trains from Bristol to Paris: 5h 20m
Flight from Paris to Barcelona: 1h 40m
Of course, you'd have to assume that "security" would be willing to let you through in Paris with your liquid OBL.
Unfortunately, if you tell this story to a pro-TSAer, their response will be the following:
- Well, they got the organ in on time, didn't they?
- That could have been a liquid bomb and blown the airplane up!
I recently had the following conversation with a pro-TSAer:
"What would happen if someone stood up in flight with a gun and announced their intent to hijack?"
"That won't happen; the TSA keeps guns off airplanes."
"If someone wants to get a gun onto an airplane, they will. The TSA has a 50+% failure rate finding guns. Even if they were perfect, someone who works in an airside vendor could put a gun in the middle of a pallet full of goods and sneak it right in."
"But that's different."
"OK, so what happens if someone pulls out a gun in flight?"
"The passengers would panic!"
