I'll start.

First, let me correct your statement: "Now I understand that 100% of these things turn out false …".

This was allegedly a point-and-shoot camera. Smaller than a paperback book. Would this same flight crew have turned around the plane if an abandoned copy of War and Peace were found in a seat pocket? After all, such a huge book could easily be concealing more explosives than a measly point-and-shoot.

This was an act of paranoia on the part of the flight crew. Or as Bruce Schneier likes to say, fighting terrorism based on movie plots. "Is this really a camera? Why is no one on board claiming it? Is it part of some plot to bring down this plane, since no one is claiming it? We can't be too careful."

I'll be gentle about it, though.

The problem with treating all of these cases the same, when 99.9% of them turn out to be false alarms, is that we are inadvertently training people to be lackadaisical about alarms. Eventually, we'll give up being vigilant about any of these things entirely ... and that's when someone will use the situation to create mischief.

If the crew was really concerned that this was a terrorist device, there seems to be a rather simple solution: toss the @#$! thing out the window.

? 99.9% ? Please point out the previous bomb left behind in the seat incidents, otherwise the number is 100%.

And please stay in your house and cower. Don't fly on my flights. You've already been defeated by the terrorists.

+1

Understand the procedure now?
Just stop a few of their machines and radios
and telephones and lawn mowers. . . . Throw
them into darkness for a few hours, and then
just sit back and watch the pattern.


And this pattern is always the same?


With few variations. They pick
the most dangerous enemy they can find . . .and it’s themselves. And all we need do is sit
back . . . and watch.

Man you have no idea I'm anything but a coward. Every one have a nice day I'm done with this & TSS.

How do you leave your house every day? Or even stay in your house? You far more likely to be killed in a car crash or even murdered in a home invasion, than you are to be killed in a plane crash(terrorist related or not). Cowering to the most minuet risk while ignoring everything is a sure path to disaster. The crew likely put the passengers at more risk by making an unscheduled landing then continuing on with a danger unclaimed camera on board.

Most of us (including me) have never met you. So we don't know about your inherent bravery. (And I am not teasing you - perhaps you are a very brave person working on a demolitions team in the Marines). Further, bravery (versus cowardice) is probably not the appropriate equation. Sitting near a bomb, without protection, is not bravery, it is stupidity.

But the opinion you posted is inconsistent with rational risk-reward behavior in the opinion of many of us here.

Please, do not leave, but explain your thinking. You imply you would not want to take a chance, and therefore you believe turning the plane around was the right move. What was the risk the flight crew would have been taking had they continued on to Geneva? Keep in mind that the plane was already well into its flight and over the ocean when this discovery was made. Keep in mind too that this was a small point-and-shoot camera we're discussing.

Thank you.

That's one of my favorite episodes. :D

If it indeed was a small digital camera I have to wonder what they would have done had it been an iPhone?

To be fair: http://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Philip...tting_the_bomb

Now, this device was better concealed, being in the life vest pocket, and probably would have identified as an "obvious" bomb if discovered, but still, it happened. But in 1994, we had enough common sense to not allow a single isolated incident to completely upend our lives.

Exactly. If the crew/passengers *really* believed the device was an explosive, they would act very differently from what actually occurs during these "abundance of caution" diversions. For example, the passengers are never evacuated on slides on the active runway the way they would be in a real emergency. Why? Because that costs $ (new slides), causes injuries, and shuts down the airport, and they are pretty darn sure that the alleged "device" doesn't justify it. So instead, they taxi the aircraft to a remote location, delay getting the passengers off in a timely fashion, and generally do things that are all about show and not at all about protecting life and property.

If I'm a passenger in the exit row and I really believed there was a device on board, I'm out the window/door as soon as the plane stops, not waiting around for instructions, the police, whatever. On the other hand, if I find a camera in the adjacent seat pocket, I hope I'd have the guts to open it up, pull the battery, and generally make it very clear that it is harmless before attempting to report it to the crew. In reality the best choice these days seems to be not to report it until landing, if at all.

I guess the tewwowists did win :p

Are you suggesting that the monsters due on Maple Street wear blue shirts?

If so, I agree with you...

......but, of course that camera looked dangerous.....it probably had a button marked "timer" or "shoot".....and if the brand was "Canon", well, we all know our enemies can't spell very good......

If it was suspicious enough for a diversion and landing, where did they put the camera during flight? In a lav? Maybe deep in a drinks cart to muffle any explosion? Did they move passengers as far away as possible from the camera?

The idea of just ejecting the camera from the plane is brilliant! Can that be done? Maybe one of the military planes escorting the flight could swoop around to catch the camera for further analysis? (Or maybe there's a long set of tongs available from first-class service to pass the camera to the military plane?)

For threat assessment, did anyone think of using their phone to take a picture of the camera, then the plane could fly low enough to transmit the picture to the FBI, TSA, CIA etc (or use in-flight internet) to find out that this is the fifth $59 camera to left on a plane this year!

.........and didn't someone say there was supposed to be SkyMarshalls on all US to Europe flights during the Olympics???