Person of probable "Middle Eastern" descent tries to ignite improvised explosives on Paris-Mia AA flight.

http://boston.com/news/daily/22/plane_diverted.htm

Yea - I was following this - unbelievable - how much explosive could you get in the sole of your shoe? I think this must be a lone wacko.. grrrreeat -

Nike Air

I was surprised I hadn't heard more of this story today, but it finally has made its way to the front of MSNBC and CNN.

Security will be insane after this.

I'm wearing hush puppies or docksiders from now on. You gotta KNOW everyone's shoes are going through X-ray from now on. Sigh... Eventually we will all be forced into giant cigar tubes and that's how we'll travel.

Yeesh.

Regards,
-Bouncer-
PS: There is no way in hell you can detonate C4 (as the article claims) with a match. You CAN burn it, but you cannot detonate it. It requires a blasting cap to start the high speed chemical reaction.

Maybe he thought that he could explode it by stamping his feet or something Thank goodness these terrorists types are idiots or we would really have allot to worry about.


[This message has been edited by Mvic (edited 12-22-2001).]

Agree on the shoes -- travelling sunday and i will be sure to wear nice socks

As for the "C-4 in nature" explosive, this is probably all speculation. In one story they said he had a "detonating device", but then why the heck would he be using a match? Luckily he was dumb enough to do this while sitting in his seat rather than somewhere less conspicuous.

Can't wait to find out why he was held for questioning three weeks ago in Belgium...

Apparently, this joker had the detonator in his shoes.

I personally think they should have used the flight attendant's flashlight to "sedate" him instead of drugs. A few whacks of that to the back of that guy's head, and he wouldn't be getting up ever again.

Agreed -- i'm amazed at the restraint of the crew and passengers that this guy is still in one piece for the FBI to be interrogating him.

How much C4 would it take to depressurize a plane? If I've learned anything from the Die Hard movies, not very much.

A couple of pounds of C-4 would pretty much ensure that any plane is completely destroyed. I believe that the 747 taken down at Lockerbie was destroyed by C-4 that was placed in a radio.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a violent person. But I honestly don't think I could hold back if I were on a flight with someone who wanted to kill me and 200 others.

We'll see if someone whose sole purpose here (never seen it contribute to anything related to travel) is race baiting and trying to reignite the flames of racial hatred. The passenger in question is a "Richard Reid" and is 6'4".

I know what you mean MDtony, though the possibility of the terrorist having important info that could prevent future attempts by his cell/network would give me sufficient pause.

Terenz,

Not taking sides, but according to MSNBC..

"The suspect appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, officials said, though his real name and background did not appear to be available yet"

and

"White said Reid�s passport, issued in Belgium three weeks ago, was �questionable.� He boarded the plane without luggage or additional identification. Federal officials believed the passport �looks bogus,� Kinton said."

My point is simply that we (the public) don't know what nationality the guy is at this point. If MSNBC is quoting government officials describing him as being of "Middle Eastern descent" it's really not racist to point that out.

It's a bit more of a leap to conclude ethat with a name or alias like Richard Reid and a height of 6'4" he therefore ISN'T of middle eastern descent. Osama isn't exactly 5'2" himself.

here's a link so you can check the quotes..

http://www.msnbc.com/news/676895.asp?0cm=c20

Regards,
-Bouncer-

[This message has been edited by Bouncer (edited 12-22-2001).]