And, just to show how utterly useless those devices can be in the face of even a modest amount of imagination and preparation, British newspaper reporter Anthony France atoned for NBC’s ham-handed attempt at a security breach by lying his way into the cargo hold of a Thomas Cook Vacations Boeing 757, which was being prepared for a flight to Majorca, with a fake bomb. “Had I been one of Osama Bin Laden’s terrorists, I could have wiped out more than 220 British passengers … and thousands more on the ground,” he exulted in the Sun after his escapade. France, using fake references and bank details, got a job as a baggage handler at Birmingham International Airport. He then walked through a metal detector that chirped the evidence of bomb-making stuff hidden in his shoes. The security personnel accepted his explanation that steel-toed shoes had set off the machine and he was allowed to go to work. After assembling the fake bomb in an airplane washroom, he joined four other baggage handlers in loading the plane and reportedly took a picture of himself inside the cargo hold with the device. The UK Department of Transport is investigating but there’s no word on whether NBC is trying to hire France.
…Brit Journalist Shows NBC How It’s Done
Key Takeaways:
- A British reporter, Anthony France, successfully bypassed airport security by posing as a baggage handler and planting a fake bomb in the cargo hold of a Boeing 757.
- He obtained the job using fake credentials and his "bomb-making stuff" in his shoes went undetected despite a metal detector alert.
- This incident, following a previous security breach attempt by NBC, exposed significant vulnerabilities in airport security, demonstrating a potential terrorist's ability to access and plant a device on an aircraft.
See a mistake? Contact us.
