New airline terror warning
Security services have warned that the aviation industry could once again be targeted by Al Qaida terrorists this summer, with the CIA stating that the terror group is planning a repeat of the tactics used on 11 September 2001.
The Independent today reports that the British security service MI5 has been briefed on the threat, and security has already been tightened at airports around the UK.
A memo put out by he US Transport Security Administration (TSA) reads: “The plan may involve the use of five-man teams, each of which would attempt to seize control of a commercial aircraft either shortly after take-off or before landing at a chosen airport. This type of operation would preclude the need for flight-trained hijackers.”
The memo goes on to warn that the hijackers “may attempt to use common items carried by travellers such as cameras, modified as weapons”. Airlines in the United States have already been told to screen passengers more intensively – especially those flying into the States and then onward to foreign destinations.
Dozens fall ill in P&O Cruises ship outbreak
Boy falls to death on cruise ship
Turkish Airlines flight in emergency landing after pilot dies
Unexpected wave rocks cruise ship
Woman dies after going overboard in English Channel