Uh-huh.

Let's say this actually was a bomb. Wouldn't it be too late to do anything at this point? If the bomber is on the plane, he probably has a way to detonate the bomb. If the bomb is on a timer, it may be too late unless it was set to detonate over Europe. Even then, flight delays and such would make it risky to accomplish that goal. I don't understand why fighters were scrambled to intercept this plane. It's unlikely that a plane will be taken over like on 9/11 even if there are terrorists with bombs, guns, etc. because the passengers and crew aren't going to let the terrorists take over. The plane will likely blow up over or crash into the ocean.

I think if the terrorists get to the airport, security and intelligence has already lost the battle. If a terrorist is caught at the checkpoint, won't he just detonate his explosives while standing in a likely densely packed area? I don't think they are going through the checkpoints anyway. There are other ways to gain access to the sterile area at the airport that are probably easier.

+1

Mike

To be fair, it happened, but long before the current security regimen.

And even if we allow it, given the number of flights since 1994, we have to increase 99.9% to at least 99.99999%.

You asked for it, you got it -------------------Toyota!

For whatever it's worth ... that doesn't appear to be the observed mode of operation we've seen to date. Mr. Shoe Bomber and Mr. Underwear Bomber tried to set off their explosives on an aircraft, not in the airport itself. Other rumors of threats seem to be centered on flights in motion (if one believes such rumors).

That doesn't, of course, mean that such a mode of operation is impossible; suicide bombers approaching congested locations happens far too often in other places in the world.

But keep in mind: most terrorists aren't looking to simply kill people. There are far easier ways to do that than trying to blow up an airplane. Yes, one might kill more people standing in line in an airport than exploding a plane mid-air.

I must have missed where Messrs. Shoe Bomber and Underwear Bomber were caught at the checkpoint while carrying their explosives (as spd476 suggested could happen, and to whom you responded), and then released to board the plane. Please elaborate.

I missed that ... but it doesn't invalidate the point. If someone carrying explosives intended for use while airborne is caught at a checkpoint, it doesn't immediately follow that (s)he will denote those explosives at the checkpoint. One action isn't necessarily equivalent to the other.

I believe it was someone who left the digital camera. Nobody who took it. I wasn't sure why. Maybe someone who leave the camera behind. They have responsible for that. They cannot leave the camera in the aircraft.

While not 100% concordant, experience in Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan is that a large number of suicide bombers, if intercepted prior to their target, will -- if allowed -- detonate their explosives.

After all, it is less likely that they'll merely say "Shucks, you got me. If I can't blow up that plane, I just don't care to blow up anything."

But neither does leaving items behind for a future flight.

If a "bad guy" got the device on board, it would be with him so he could set it off by hand.

The flight was diverted due to "an abundance of stupidity"

Please don't leave your ball, we'll have a mass evacuation of TSS out of an abundance of fear!

Yeah. Terrorists only care about blowing up aircraft, so if one gets caught at a checkpoint, he'll just go quietly. He isn't going to want to highlight the fact that the checkpoint queue presents a huge vulnerability - made worse by the NOSs and other elements of the TSA that slow down operation and increase the length of the queue.

If Ahmed Ressam had succeeded in his plot to blow up a passenger waiting area at LAX, that wouldn't have frightened anybody.

Flight crew have no financial incentive not to overreact. They're not going to lose any pay if it turns out to be a false alarm. And in the extremely unlikely event that it was something, they would be lauded as heroes.

Though their count seems to be dwindling, you see how many anything-for-safety types there are amongst the general public. There is no reason to think that there is not an equal proportion of such types amongst flight crews.

Consider yourself slammed :D This is friggin ridiculous. The correct figure is 100%.

Sigh. 99.9% of the time you get in a car you'll be fine. .01% of the time you might get hurt. I suggest you stop driving.

America - once the land of the brave. Now? Not so much.