Originally Posted by studentff

Your scenario still requires there to be a binary explosive that can be created fairly quickly in a non-lab environment. So far all the chemistry I have heard about post 8/10 has indicated that mixing these things with a fairly high probability of success (success = getting enough explosive to blow up a plane instead of just burning off your own face) at a minimum would require much longer than someone could sit in a lav without drawing attention, would require copius amounts of ice to keep the reactants cooled, and would generate a noxious smell that would attract attention of passengers/FAs.

And pre-mixed liquid explosives (e.g., nitroglycerine) are so notoriously unstable that in large enough quantities they would be likely to blow up in the carry-on bag well before the bad guy ever reached the plane. Not to mention the fact that existing ETD and puffer technology can detect them (and does in fact detect them in heart patients daily).

Notice the conspicuous absense of government sponsored demonstrations of the potential threat. If it were a realistic threat, don't you think they'd make a nice video of someone quickly mixing to harmless-looking flasks and then placing them next to a harmless looking cell-phone before exploding a nice simulated aircraft cabin?