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London to Washington Flight Diverted to Boston

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 16:56
by Monkey
Following a disturbance on board. From Sky 'Breaking News'
LinkTopic moved to 'other airlines' forum from VS forum by mod.... Nick
Link also shortened.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 16:58
by pinnocchio

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:03
by Monkey
Curious to see how this pans out!

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:05
by pinnocchio
woman reported with matches and a screwdriver...in confrontation with staff. Apparently had note referencing Al-Queda.
LHR security failure reported (BBC news 24 live)

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:11
by VS045
Thanks, but I'm not sure that the VS forum is the right place for this topic. However, many topics in general discussion have been more security related lately - so maybe it's OK???[:?]
VS.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:17
by Monkey
And vaseline!
Sorry edited to include this link that says it isn't terror related just a claustrophobic pax?
Edited by mod to shorten link.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:22
by pinnocchio
I'm amazed that there appears to be a chopper doing live aerial shots within BOS airport airspace.
I know that the US allows media choppers to be fairly intrusive (compared to the UK anyway), however you'd never get a media chopper that close in at LHR or LGW.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:33
by Decker
Too funny - she had "Vaseline, a screw driver, matches and a note referencing al-Qaida" and "All three items were banned from flights after past security threats".
Erm that's 4 items but by implication notes about al-Qaida are allowed on board.... handy to know.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:38
by Monkey
Yep I wondered why the note from Osama was allowed!

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:38
by preiffer
Could the ink on the note not be classified as "liquid" though Decker...? [:?]

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 17:40
by slinky09
This is almost an hilarious story - on the one hand this woman had claustrophobia and that made other passengers think she was a terrorist (?) and the poor woman is now bound and under arrest, on the other hand she had 'vaseline, a screw driver and a note referencing Al Qaida' in which case she should (probably) be under suspicion at the very least. I hope it's the former, though if it's the latter that that does not mean anything sinister ...
[:?][:?]
Oh well, truth will come out as it normally does.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 21:17
by VS045
This is almost an hilarious story - on the one hand this woman had claustrophobia and that made other passengers think she was a terrorist (?) and the poor woman is now bound and under arrest, on the other hand she had 'vaseline, a screw driver and a note referencing Al Qaida' in which case she should (probably) be under suspicion at the very least. I hope it's the former, though if it's the latter that that does not mean anything sinister ...
Oh well, truth will come out as it normally does
The truth or tabloid truth;)
Personally, I don't know what to make of this - she had claustraphobia and yet was carrying an al-quaeda note...[:?]
VS.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 21:57
by slinky09
And as it turns out, the poor woman was 60, had claustrophobia and a panic attack, was restrained and bound and arrested, oh and nearly 200 people were diverted and massive police costs to boot.
Incidentally she had some matches (strangely allowed) and some moisturiser (not allowed, and clearly not in UC otherwise she'd have none at all).
If all this is the true version it is farcical. Whatever happened to crews being there to ensure people are comfortable as well as safe, what ignominy for this poor woman (oh, no Al Queda note to be seen so goes to prove never believe the press in its first version).
Someone really need to get a grip of the current situation.

Posted:
16 Aug 2006, 22:02
by preiffer
CNN Update hereGeorge Naccara, security director for the TSANaccara said he did not believe any items the passenger was carrying were the cause of the outburst. An airport spokesman, Phil Orlandella, previously confirmed broadcast reports that the woman was carrying Vaseline, a screw driver, matches and a note referring to al-Qaeda, but backed off the statement. Naccara said it wasn't true.
"I don't know what she had on board with her, but we have been told she did not have a screw driver, she did not have any liquids such as Vaseline, and any notebook she may have had, it did not contain an al-Qaeda reference," Naccara said. "This is still playing out, of course."
"There was speculation in the beginning of all those items, but those have been proven untrue," he said. He said he had no information about matches.