On 18 May 1990, Swire took a fake bomb on-board a British Airways flight from London's Heathrow airport to New York's JFK* and then on a flight from New York JFK to Boston to show that airline security had not improved; his fake bomb consisted of a radio cassette player and the confectionery marzipan, which was used as a substitute for Semtex. Some American family members asked Swire to keep the news of the stunt quiet; it became public six weeks later. Susan and Daniel Cohen, parents of Pan Am Flight 103 victim Theodora Cohen approved of the plan, while some other family members of American victims did not.**
* Fineman, Mark (6 July 1990). "TERRORISM / ONE MAN'S CRUSADE : Fake Bomb Shows Hole in Security : The father of one of the victims of the Pan Am 103 tragedy demonstrates that it could happen again". Los Angeles Times.
**Cohen, Susan and Daniel. "Chapter 16." Pan Am 103: The Bombing, the Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice. New American Library. 2000. 225.
Eight years after the Lockerbie attack, in October 1996, ITV journalist Roger cook proved that airline security was leaking like a sieve. His team routed unaccompanied bags and fake bombs around Europe and across the United States and recorded it all for his documentary series The Cook Report.
ReplyDeleteCook interviewed an airline security expert who admitted: "Every carrier out of the States is carrying unaccompanied baggage, and every bag is a security risk. It just amazes me that we’ve not lost more aircraft. The airlines admit to up to eight thousand unaccompanied bags a day world-wide. That adds up to several million per year."
Have things improved? I doubt it.