Man Tries To Use Explosive Device On US Flight 809
reporter writes with news that a Nigerian man allegedly attempted to set off a small explosive device — possibly a firecracker — on a Delta Airbus 330 airliner bound for Detroit yesterday. "There was a pop and then smoke wafted through the cabin. A passenger then climbed over several seats, lunged across the aisle and managed to subdue the suspect, the eyewitnesses said. The Nigerian man was placed in a headlock before being dragged up to the first class cabin. Passenger Zeina Seagal told CNN that after the suspect was collared and parts of his burning pants were removed, flight attendants quickly grabbed fire extinguishers and doused the fire at his seat." The man has claimed links to al-Qaeda, though the investigation hasn't confirmed that yet. (They're not taking anything for granted given that his pants were literally on fire.)
Result (Score:5, Informative)
The new rules are hilarious however:
- Not allowed to have any items or anything on your lap for the last 1 hour of flight
- Not allowed to go to toilet during that time either
- Crew doesn't tell about cities or landmarks so passengers don't know where they are flying (it's so hard to time that on clock)
What is that going to improve?
Re:Probable Translation (Score:1, Informative)
according to Danish newspaper BT.dk he tried to mix a bag of powder with some liquid chemicals he had in a syringe
And there was a great big fizzling sound (Score:3, Informative)
And there was a great big fizzing sound as his device failed to accomplish it's task with was either a detonation or an incendiary intended to burn the plane out of the sky.
Since it was in his, ahem, pants or pocket he burned himself where it hurts effectively removing himself from the gene pool either by a lifetime of incarceration or more directly by incineration.
You'd like to think, ouch that's gotta hurt but then who has sympathy for someone attempting to kill other people with explosives or flames?
In a way you want the lone wolf jihadies to come out of the woodwork and fail since they illuminate their otherwise low key network connections. It's sorta like a flash light in the darkness of terror plots by individuals or states.
Re:Result (Score:4, Informative)
Here [montrealgazette.com] is canadian newspaper stating them at least (I read earlier from local newspaper in my language)
Re:Why did he not succeed ? (Score:5, Informative)
The perpetrator is claiming he received the explosives from Al-Qaeda in Jemen. He did visit Jemen before boarding this flight, so that is quite likely the source.
Also, it was a binary explosive: he was trying to inject liquid chemicals into solid chemicals strapped to his legs. They exploded mildly, but mostly set him on fire - that was were the bang and fire came from. Right then a Dutch passenger jumped over a few chairs and subdued him. Although I've read reports that the terrorist was "sitting dazed in his chair" - he'd probably expected to die right there, and when he didn't he was in shock.
Binary explosives are a bit hard to mix and if you don't get it right, you don't get a big bang. Also, it looks like there was no containing vessel so the bang could have been like gunpowder in the open: a big flash but apart from that, nothing much.
I'm wondering that kind of chemicals they were using though, because he was checked by security and nothing showed up on the scanners. He probably had the nitrogen-rich stuff strapped to his legs and harmless-looking stuff in his handluggage.
Re:Should read (Score:4, Informative)
So every muslim that still wants to fly the plane is a terrorist. You're not thinking this through ;)
Re:Should read (Score:2, Informative)
If it works, why not? Are you going to claim some kind of Bacon allergy?
Surely people on Slashdot won't dismiss a functional idea because it makes you laugh?
No, people are dismissing that "functional idea" because it's born out of the most disgusting type of xenophobia.
Re:Why did he not succeed ? (Score:5, Informative)
Binary explosives are a bit hard to mix
That's an understatement.
The TSA itself has admitted that it is nearly impossible to pull off:
The preparation of these bombs is very much more complex than tossing together several bottles-worth of formula and lighting it up. In fact, in recent tests, a National Lab was asked to formulate a test mixture and it took several tries using the best equipment and best scientists for it to even ignite. That was with a bomb prepared in advance in a lab setting. A less skilled person attempting to put it together inside a secure area or a plane is not a good bet. You have to have significant uninterrupted time with space and other requirements that are not easily available in a secured area of an airport.
2.04.2008 More on the Liquid Rules: Why We Do the Things We Do [tsa.gov]
That's right -the TSA has admitted that binary explosives are essentially impossible to pull off, and yet they still insist on on the totally pointless liquid restrictions.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why did he not succeed ? (Score:2, Informative)
That's right -the TSA has admitted that binary explosives are essentially impossible to pull off, and yet they still insist on on the totally pointless liquid restrictions.
Philippine Airlines Flight 434 [wikipedia.org] - one passenger killed and hole in the aircraft fuselage by just such a bomb.
Sounds like Kinepak (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Long Distance Rail (Score:3, Informative)
In the line of trains: China just opened a line from Guangzhou to Wuhan, almost 1100 km, travel time is now under 3 hours, similar to flying. There are nine stops on the route, trains run at 350 km/h with top speed of almost 400 km/h. It's the fastest high-speed link in the world now. And a ticket costs something like RMB500 (USD 73), eight times the cost of a normal train ticket (10-11 hour trip) and a little less than a plane ticket.
With such a system you could do your route in like yours in about 6 hours.
Check-in for Chinese trains is also still simple: buy a ticket (preferably using cash), walk through a metal detector while your bag is scanned in an x-ray device, and walk on to your train. Very efficient. And that way easily competitive with airliners.
Re:Result (Score:4, Informative)
You're obviously not paying attention.
Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born radical Muslim cleric and member of Al Qaeda in Yemen, encouraged Hasan to do it. Both acted for ideological reasons, same as any terrorists.
From: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/major-hasans-mail-wait-join-afterlife/story?id=9130339&page=1 [go.com]
There's lots more there, but that's pretty indicative. Feel free to RTFA.
If you're still waiting for demonstration, you're being lazy or blind. This guy was a radical Muslim and a terrorist by any definition.
That's actually almost true (Score:5, Informative)
Well, it turns out he really is a son of a prominent nigerian banker [yahoo.com]. I'm not making this up :)
Re:Long Distance Rail (Score:5, Informative)
Rail travel could be cheaper and could actually compete with the airlines. If Amtrak and CSX et al improved the track, including engaging in a program of electrification (which they should do anyway), and started using lighter, lower cost, rolling stock,
I don't disagree with most of what you wrote, but I have to comment on this segment. First, regarding "lighter, lower cost rolling stock" there's a huge perception that the Acela service on the NEC corridor sucks because they train is too heavy, and in turn the train is too heavy because of FRA safety regs. Yes, the Acela is heavy, and yes the Acela is heavy because of safety regs (although the FRA regs were revised in the late 1990's to make accommodations for the Acela) but that's not the cause of any performance problems. I worked on the testing of the Acela trainsets in Pueblo and in NJ in 2000 and the trainset can sustain speeds of well over 150 mph for hours at a time. The power cars are plenty powerful - one of the Amtrak engineers on the project told me that if a trainset was powered by one PC instead of the normal two, the end-to-end (Bos-DC) run time would only be increased by 5 minutes). If you look at the cost of an Acela trainset, it falls within the range of other HSR trainsets like the ICE, TGV and Eurostar (albiet at the higher end). The Acela service sucks because it shares tracks with freight trains (in fact most of the NEC is dispatched by CSX and Norfolk Southern who tend to prioritize their trains over Amtrak trains), because the catenary south of NYC dates from the 10th century and can't handle high speeds, because there are a number of grade-crossings along the line north of NYC that the trains have to slow down for, and because the track has a lot of curves that the train has to slow down for.
In any event, the rolling stock is by far a minor cost compared with the total capital cost of an HSR system. Train track costs on the order of $1 million/mile for a single track. That costs does not include land acquisition, electrification, environmental review, the inevitable NIMBY litigation, mitigation costs, etc. And I agree that more electrification is something we need, but it's not just a matter of stringing wire. Bridges have to be raised to allow for the additional clearance for the catenary, if you're electrifying an existing line you have to do the work at night to minimize traffic disruption which means nighttime nose & lighting concerns, you have safety concerns (especially at crossings), you have to acquire more ROW for electrical substations, and so one. Combine all these costs with the perception that "transit needs to pay for itself" and you have a country unwilling to invest the hundreds of billions of dollars necessary for a world class rail system.
Re:Result (Score:5, Informative)
Except females.
Except those deemed unfit and those who request to perform civilian service. (Starting this year, this way is open to all at 1.5x the duration of uniformed service.)
Lying down and shooting at targets 300 metres away with an assault rifle. Excluding those who perform their uniformed service sans weapons.
The only defense I picked up was how to defend myself against the incompetence of superiors (i.e. selective hearing).
Bwahahaha.
You may have been looking for Israel or something, but the only thing this hunk of junk produces is a thriving mass of overweight, corrupt and slimy staff officers with no base in reality whatsoever. The training you get is of approximately the same value as watching four Steven Seagal movies end-to-end.
Full disclosure: Sgt in the Swiss Army, retired in Q3/2009. Tell me about your sources. :)
Re:Result (Score:3, Informative)
Unlike you apparently, I visit sources other than /. One of them, the amusingly named "smalldeadanimals.com", had a post which picked up an eyewitness account from the Nigerian airport. That person said he was startled when he saw the terrorist, accompanied by a much older man, who talked to the ticket agent, and said he wanted to buy a ticket to the US for the younger man, but the younger man didn't have a passport. Later in the conversation, he said to the agent "I'm from Sudan; we do this all the time". Then the three disappeared into a back room. The man reporting said he was very surprised to see the terrorist on the flight, and surmised some cash had exchanged hands.