Russian Airliner, 'shot down'?

[cromwell]

COBRA.Why didn't they call it the Terror Fighters of Tottenham?

Or the Armed Response Security Experts?

Maybe not...

[Workingman]

You're a bit early in the vino tonight, Crommers.

ARSE indeed.

[cromwell]

Mrs C has just been talking to the caretaker of the school she used to work at; they have just come back from Sharm El Sheik.

They should have flown back at 6pm on Monday, but couldn't because of the fog in the UK. So they were sent to a hotel for the night and went back to the airport at 5 am.

When they got to the airport they had another delay. The plane they were due to fly back on had been breached. Which means apparently that the plane had been fitted with seals overnight, and these seals had been broken. So some unauthorised person had been on board. So the pilot would not (or maybe was not allowed) to fly it until someone had been flown out from the UK to check that the plane was safe.

This meant that Vicki and her husband were stuck in the airport for hours. Thomson gave them a voucher for a cold drink and a sandwich, and that was that. Subsequently they had to but a bottle of water for around £7!

Vicki also remarked on the lax security. An Egyptian man carrying two bottles of water and a haversack was allowed to walk straight through security whilst they were putting their hand luggage through the scanner.

Eventually they got home at 2am yesterday morning. They said it's a shame, but they won't be going back to Sharm El Sheik.

[TheOstrich]

You might suggest to Vicki that she sends an account of her experiences to the DM On-line, Crommers .........they'd have a field-day with it!

There could have been a bomb put on that plane .....

[Workingman]

A big problem at many airports is the checking of airside staff.

If it is not done to the same, or higher level, than for passengers then a lot of passenger checks become redundant. If an airside worker, clocking on for work, can go through the "Staff Only" door in his or her civvies, and carrying their bags, then get to the locker room to change into uniform or overalls all on the wave of a hand then it is pointless checking Mr and Ms Passenger for steel combs and liquids.

According to reports the above, among other things, is why the UK stopped flights from Sharm. There will be plenty of other 'holiday' airports where concerns will be being raised.

[Workingman]

Latest is that passengers and hand-luggage only can come back.

The implication is that an RAF transport or charter will bring the luggage back but that it will be searched item by item before loading.

[Suff]

Sad to say it, but that is the only way that we are going to see the correct level of security at these airports. If they lose 80% of their business, then they have to make the changes. Otherwise they're not going to survive as a tourist destination.

Even sadder that so many had to die in order for this level of security to be raised...

[Workingman]

Could not agree more.

I expect that we both have flown from some non-international airports where our onward luggage at the international hub is never seen. Who the hell knows what went on in between? It is not as though suitcases in transit are impregnable, is it?

[Suff]

Back in 2000 Mrs S and I flew from Stockholm to Kiruna in the Arctic Circle to visit the Ice Hotel.

I had a card so we went to the lounge. Then, at the right time, we went to the departure lounge. Stood there till called and then gave our ticket and boarded with our hand luggage...

Just one point.

No security. N.O.N.E. We just gave our bag in at the counter, wandered into the departure lounge and handed our tickets over on the way to the plane. I booked so late I could not get the direct flight so we had to stop off at an airport half way up and meet the plane we would have been on. We debarked into a virtually empty airport, picked our bags off the carousel, walked to the gate and dropped our bags off. As there was nothing open, we went into the departure lounge, giving our ticket on the way and waited.

Eventually the plane arrived, some stairs went to the plane and people got off. After a minute or two, the door of the departure lounge opened automatically, not a security person in sight. Open door, plane in front of you, you work it out.....

Needless to say that things changed after 9/11, but there are still places in the world where security is treated in a similar fashion.

Mrs S and I have flown into and out of Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima and Caracas airports. We have also flown internally in Argentina. We've stayed in Argentina, overnight in Chile and a little while in Caracas. Whilst they all have their own versions of security, they don't really meet what we would call security in the EU.

Terrorists geared up to attack EU and US airports find these places ludicrously easy to penetrate. Whilst I'm sure in these places it's mostly drugs and crime related breaches, that does not mean that terror related events can't happen.

Funnily enough the safest places in the region for you to fly out of will be places like Tel Aviv and Baghdad. Which says a lot about what drives security.

[Workingman]

Russia has now stopped flights to and from Sharm.

Reading between the lines suggests that the UK has shared its intel with the Russians and they have come to a similar conclusion - bomb. They also have the data from the black boxes to work with.

The repercussions for the Egyptian tourist industry are immense, as they will be for the likes of Jordan and Tunisia. There are now 65,000 British and Russian tourists waiting to get out, with no more going in, and goodness knows how many others from different places. However, it is despicable that the Egyptians are restricting the number of rescue flights. That action will be remembered for a long, long time.