Go Back  Airline Pilot Central Forums > Pilot Lounge > Safety
WSJ article:  Implanted explosives >

WSJ article: Implanted explosives

Notices
Safety Accidents, suggestions on improving safety, etc

WSJ article: Implanted explosives

Old 07-06-2011, 07:47 PM
  #1  
On Reserve
Thread Starter
 
C172Driver's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Posts: 12
Default New threat: Surgically implanted bombs

Good evening:

Since our industry has been used by terrorists to kill people, and to cause more economic havoc, this CBS Evening News piece provides a good explanation about this new type of threat. Although, this method hasn't been successful, what do you guys think about it?

Here is the link from CBS News:
Surgically implanted bombs possible, but unlikely - CBS News
C172Driver is offline  
Old 07-06-2011, 09:59 PM
  #2  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Position: 777 Left
Posts: 347
Default

Unreal.... These guys are just freakin beyond nuts! The only way we will ever be truly safe from these type of people that wish to kill is to keep them from flying at all. How to do that however is not easy. You cannot racial profile because it doesnt work. You cannot scan their bodies because they find a way around it.

What is the answer???
FastDEW is offline  
Old 07-07-2011, 07:02 AM
  #3  
CH46 Pilot to the Stars
 
missintheline's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Mar 2011
Position: Furloughed
Posts: 61
Default WSJ article: Implanted explosives

Stay vigilant and, hey.....Let's be careful out there.

Wall Street Journal
July 7, 2011
Pg. 3
Bomb Implants Emerge As Airline Terror Threat
By Keith Johnson and Siobhan Gorman
Militants from al Qaeda's Yemeni branch are considering surgically implanting explosive devices in would-be suicide bombers, possibly with the aim of blowing up airliners, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The new intelligence on plotting by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered the group's most dangerous affiliate, led the Obama administration to warn foreign governments and American and international airline executives over the past several days that terrorists might attempt to board planes with explosives concealed in their bodies.
"It's more than aspirational," a U.S. official said. "They're trying to make this happen."
The Department of Homeland Security hasn't warned of a specific plot, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. But the specter of militants carrying bombs within them—perhaps stitched into the abdomen, breasts or buttocks—is prompting additional security measures at U.S. airports and overseas airports serving U.S. destinations, the Transportation Security Administration said in a written release.
Mr. Carney said militants had repeatedly expressed interest in experimenting with new techniques to conceal explosives.
"That terrorists are interested in finding ways to attack us is pretty much self-evident," Mr. Carney said. "Our security procedures are multifaceted, and we adjust them according to the threat all the time."
TSA spokesman Nick Kimball said that "passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place," including more interactions between security agents and passengers.
U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned about plots emanating from Yemen, where a popular uprising against the country's authoritarian leader and tribal clashes have created a security vacuum in which al Qaeda can operate with greater freedom.
The U.S. official said the administration wasn't aware of an imminent plot involving implanted bombs, but the effort represents the next generation of plans following the botched attempt by al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate in 2009 to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day with a bomb sewn into the bomber's underwear.
The idea of terrorists using surgically implanted explosives isn't new. Last year, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency warned of just such a threat, based on web chatter among Islamist militants. The idea of implanting explosives came in the months after the failed 2009 plot, in which the underwear explosives failed to detonate because they were damp from sweat.
U.S. officials suspect that the same al-Qaeda-in-Yemen bomb maker who was behind a 2009 plot to kill the top Saudi counterterrorism official, and whose brother attempted the bombing, is behind the body-bomb plan.
Security officials believe that, in theory, a surgically implanted bomb could work. A small amount of explosives could be sealed in plastic and introduced into the abdomen, buttocks or breasts. To detonate the explosive, a syringe containing a different chemical could be jammed into the plastic bag, triggering an explosion. Diabetics and others with certain medical conditions can carry syringes onto aircraft.
Al Qaeda militants have gone so far as to discuss which anatomical regions would be preferable for an explosive implant, a U.S. counterterrorism official said, although the official declined to specify which region they recommended. The efforts appear to be still in the early planning phase, according to the official.
Security experts said that, to date, there was no record of terrorists attempting to carry out such an attack.
In recent years, the TSA has added hundreds of new full-body screening machines at scores of airports to complement metal detectors and help detect hard-to-find items that could pose a security threat. The new scanners, however, likely wouldn't be able to identify explosive devices implanted inside a body. That has prompted many security experts to urge alternative security measures, including profiling a passenger's behavior and demeanor to identify security risks.
"What technology can we use? The simple answer is the human brain—that's the only way to address the threat," said Philip Baum, founder of Green Light Limited, a U.K. aviation-security consultancy. Given that drug smugglers have implanted contraband for years, he said, he was surprised terrorists hadn't tried to do the same with explosives.
-- Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.
***
Airborne Plots
Planes have long been favorite targets of terror groups.
December 1988 – A bomb in the luggage bay of a Pan Am London-N.Y. flight exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people in all. Libya took responsibility for the attack.
1996 – Al Qaeda operatives in Manila planned to blow up a dozen airliners simultaneously over the Pacific, but the plot was foiled when the bombmakers blew up their apartment.
December 2001 – Richard Reid tried to light a shoe bomb on a Paris-Miami flight. The attempt was foiled by flight attendants and a sweaty fuse.
August 2006 – British al Qaeda adherents planned to use liquids to blow up 10 trans-Atlantic aircraft but were arrested in a joint U.S-U.K. operation.
Dec. 25, 2009 – A Nigerian, Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tried to detonate an underwear bomb on an Amsterdam-Detroit flight, but the device did not ignite and he was subdued by other passengers.
October 2010 – Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula militants packed printer cartridges with explosive powder and mailed them in cargo planes headed for Chicago. The plot was discovered and the devices were disarmed in the U.K.
July 2011 – U.S. officials warn that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula aims to use surgically implanted bombs to sidestep airport security.
***
'I Could Train Someone to Do It Within a Few Hours'
Surgically implanting explosives into the body is medically feasible and wouldn't require extensive training, according to medical experts.
Their assessment bolsters U.S. officials' concern that the strategy could be used by suicide bombers intent on blowing up an aircraft or other kinds of targets.
It is "absolutely conceivable" that explosives could be secreted in the body, said Malcolm Roth, president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "It's certainly not a stretch to say that where there's a will, there's a way."
Breast, pectoral or buttock implants, commonly filled with saline for cosmetic or reconstructive uses performed by plastic surgeons, could be filled with an explosive such as PETN instead, experts said. Implanting such a device under the skin could be done with rudimentary medical training, said Elan Singer, a plastic surgeon in New York who has served as a military surgeon.
"I could train someone off the street with two arms and two legs to do it within a few hours," said Dr. Singer, who has some experience observing Israel's stringent security procedures.
A sharp pen-like object filled with a triggering chemical could be used to penetrate the skin and detonate the explosive, he said.
Implants are so common they likely wouldn't stand out to security personnel, medical experts said. Devices also could be implanted elsewhere, such as near the heart where pacemakers are placed. But in body cavities such as the rectum, where medical devices aren't typically deployed, they would likely raise suspicion during a security scan.
Implantations could be performed outside a medical facility and using local anesthesia, doctors said. Full recovery typically takes weeks but a recipient could theoretically be mobile within days. Medically, people should be able to walk around with explosive substances inside them for several weeks without consequence, according to Dr. Singer.
The volume of explosive substance that could be implanted this way has the potential to do damage. For example, a large breast implant commonly holds about 16 ounces, Dr. Singer said. Omar Farouk Abdulmatallab, who tried to bomb a jet as it landed on Christmas 2009, had less than 3 ounces of PETN in his underwear. -- Shirley S. Wang
missintheline is offline  
Old 07-07-2011, 07:17 AM
  #4  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Position: FO
Posts: 3,031
Default

So MRI machines now at security checkpoints?
BlueMoon is offline  
Old 07-07-2011, 07:18 AM
  #5  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Position: Furlough/Gun Driver
Posts: 437
Default

I'm so glad we keep giving them such good ideas and telling them how simple it would be.
***
dosbo is offline  
Old 07-07-2011, 07:42 AM
  #6  
Gets Weekends Off
 
USMCFLYR's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,835
Default

Originally Posted by dosbo View Post
I'm so glad we keep giving them such good ideas and telling them how simple it would be.
***
They're not being told anything they don't already know.

USMCFLYR
USMCFLYR is offline  
Old 07-08-2011, 04:10 PM
  #7  
Gets Weekends Off
 
cardiomd's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jul 2009
Position: Seat: Vegan friendly faux leather
Posts: 974
Default

Originally Posted by FastDEW View Post
What is the answer???
I think the start is accepting a small amount of risk and not creating hysterical responses like the TSA makes... Intelligence work and targeted screening of high-risk passengers.

Originally Posted by BlueMoon View Post
So MRI machines now at security checkpoints?
No - the big magnet is far, far too dangerous (for instance most pacemakers are not MRI-compatible.) People with shrapnel or veterans could have serious problems from the scanning machine -- it could heat up metal fragments in tissue for example. It could kill grandma, while molesting her and making her remove her adult diapers merely removes her dignity.

Originally Posted by dosbo View Post
I'm so glad we keep giving them such good ideas and telling them how simple it would be.
***
Many people say this, but although misguided, terrorists aren't idiots... they could do basic navigation and fly a 767 into a target... surely a basic surgery is not beyond capability. Body scans won't detect the risk, so I'm not sure why they were even deployed, wasting millions that could have gone toward intelligence work or something actually useful.

Originally Posted by USMCFLYR View Post
They're not being told anything they don't already know.

USMCFLYR
+1
cardiomd is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
HalinTexas
Safety
41
06-08-2011 06:01 PM
KnightFlyer
Cargo
21
07-18-2010 07:30 PM
Pelican
Major
25
03-12-2009 10:14 AM
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Cargo
6
02-02-2009 01:17 PM
Paddles
Cargo
10
12-11-2006 11:35 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Your Privacy Choices