‘Suicide bomber’ flew on RP plane: Airport guards flunked anti-terror test 2 times
A MAN WEARING a jacket and carrying a bag was able to sneak a bomb onto a flight from Manila to Davao City last month at the height of the nationwide security alert after Britain uncovered a plot to blow up transatlantic planes. The man pulled off the same stunt on the return flight to Manila. Had he detonated the bomb, he would have turned the commercial plane into a fireball and killed himself, the crew and hundreds of other passengers. The man turned out to be a civilian antiterrorism expert tapped by a government official to test security measures at Philippine airports after British police foiled a plan to blow up US-bound planes in midair using liquid explosives.
In the wake of our national post-9.11 paranoia, we want absolute, guraranteed, iron-clad security…and I’m here to tell you that it’s not going to happen. This story is a perfect example of how easy it can be to sneak an explosive device onto an airplane. Sure, the vast majority of people attempting this sort of thing would be caught, but all it take is one determined individual willing to sacrifice himself for a “cause”, and suddenly you have bodies and debris spread all over the countryside.
Every time a new plot is uncovered, the security strategy is reactively ratcheted up a notch. First, it was shoes. Recently, it was sports drinks, lattes, and hair gel. I hate to think what might happen when someone tries to carry a bomb onto a plane in their underwear, or, even worse, as a suppository. (Sir…please…just give me your boarding pass and then bend over and cough….)
To those of you worried about the terrorists winning, well, you’re a bit late. That train left the station long ago. We’ve allowed our government and our own fear and paranoia to create a system that eventually will lead to the ultimate indignity- we’ll all be flying naked after a prostate exam. Let’s hope the airlines will at least give us towels to sit on.
