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| Airlines Made the Decision to Cancel Flights: US officials |
| 2004-02-02 |
| Interesting ... The specter of a biological attack was raised Sunday as a possible reason that a handful of transatlantic and domestic flights were canceled this weekend. One federal law enforcement source told CNN that the U.S.-bound flights were grounded mainly out of fears that terrorists would use the planes as "air taxis" to deliver biological, chemical or radioactive weapons material to cities in the United States. The source said the intelligence information was spotty and may be unreliable, and added that translation problems made the picture even less clear. According to this source, the intelligence centered on British Airways, Air France and several U.S.-owned airlines, which the source did not identify. In some cases, specific flights were highlighted, some of them through several weeks in the future. All flights mentioned in that intelligence have been canceled. The federal law enforcement source also said that at least one federal agency, the Department of Energy, was concerned enough about the latest intelligence that it asked that cities install radioactivity detectors. A key member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the United States would have no way to counter a biological or chemical attack on a U.S.-bound airliner. "I don’t think so, and that’s partly the problem of not checking cargo, and it’s partly the problem of biological weapons, which nobody has figured out really what to do about yet," West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, said on "Fox News Sunday." "Nobody has any idea about what to do about them on an airplane or on the ground." Outside the network’s studios, Rockefeller added, "We don’t know how to protect against any biological. ... You play it safe, and the plane doesn’t fly, and people are going to have to get used to that, and people are not going to like that, but it’s what you’ve got to do in this era." British Airways, Air France and Continental Airlines grounded several flights to the United States for security reasons this weekend. Three Air France flights to Los Angeles, California, were canceled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because of similar threats. British Airways canceled Flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles Airport on Sunday and Monday, and the return flight, Flight 222, both days. Flight 207 from London to Miami, Florida, on Sunday was called off as well. "We canceled these flights on advice from the U.K. government for security reasons," a spokeswoman for the airline said. Air France canceled Flight 026 from Paris to Washington on Sunday and Monday, the airline said. Also, Flight 378 from Paris to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was grounded Saturday, but the Air France Web site said it was called off for "operational reasons." Continental Airlines also canceled Flight 1519 from Washington to Houston, Texas, on Sunday because of security concerns, spokesman David Messing said. "We weren’t able to obtain the necessary security clearance from the Department of Homeland Security," Messing said. He said the cancellation was not caused by the Super Bowl, being played in Houston. A senior U.S. official said the airlines, not the U.S. government, decided to cancel the flights. "We did not want to cancel" the French and British flights, the official said. "We have been working all week to try and prevent that. Once it gets into the airlines’ hands, however, then this is what happens." Hmmm .... airlines don’t want lawsuits (or deaths, of course). And the US wanted what? A chance to flush out and capture key terrorists and uncover their intended means of destruction? If bioterror, then it would be very useful to look at the genetic signature of the material. Capture and quietly turn someone? This reminds me of the French announcement that allowed a suspect to slip away before a previously cancelled flight. |
| Posted by:rkb |
| #4 I think the terminal's more of a worry than the plane. Inside the terminal, you could infect people going to dozens of cities. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-2-2 11:07:05 PM |
| #3 Steve White, a pulmonologist as I recall, may have a thought on this as well. Due to the significant offloading of compressor bleed air during the flight, and the fact that the air is vented from the center of the cabin to the outside wall rather than front to back; it is very difficult to spread an infection on an airplane. If my FAA Human Factors training is correct, even on 16 hour flights there has never been documentation of a contagious disease spread beyond the row in front or back of the source. Not sure what effect the extreme low humidity would have on transmission. Would likely be hostile to non-spore forming contagions. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4me 2004-2-2 9:03:27 PM |
| #2 With a Bio attack, what they are worried about is releasing the agent on the plane or in the terminal. You infect passengers and let them scatter carrying the virus with them. Effects won't show up for days or weeks. By then many more may be affected. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-2-2 3:54:18 PM |
| #1 If a plane crashes with bio on it, wouldn't it be burned? Certainly lessen the danger? |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-2-2 2:16:37 PM |