U.S. Airline Threat Level Highest Ever, Following UK Terror Plot

By Linda Orlando

British authorities announced early Thursday morning that they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several airplanes in mid-flight to the United States using explosives smuggled aboard in carry-on luggage. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said, "We think this was an extraordinarily serious plot and we are confident that we've prevented an attempt to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale." The Bush administration said the scheme was "suggestive of an al-Qaida plot."

UK officials have raised security to its highest level in Britain—suggesting that a terrorist attack might be imminent. Carry-on luggage has been banned on all trans-Atlantic flights. Security barriers at London’s Heathrow Airport were backed up with huge lines as officials searched for explosives, removing all forms of liquid other than baby formula, which is tested before being allowed on board.

The U.S. government raised its threat alert to its highest level ever for commercial flights from Britain to the United States, due to concerns because the terror plot is still being investigated and all participants may not have been located and apprehended yet. British Home Secretary john Reid said that 21 people had been arrested in London, Birmingham, and outlying suburbs, including the alleged "main players" in the plot. Searches are still ongoing in a number of locations.

Tighter security has been enforced hastily at many airports around the world and additional measures were put in place for all flights in Britain. Laptop computers, iPods, remote controls, and mobile phones were banned from being carried onboard. Liquids such as hair gel, beverages, toothpaste, baby oil, makeup, and suntan lotion were banned from flights in both Britain and the U.S., indicating the likelihood that officials were searching for liquid explosives. A plot by terrorist mastermind Ramzi Youssef was foiled in the mid-1990s to blow up 12 airplanes simultaneously over the Pacific using improvised bombs from liquid materials hidden in contact lens solution containers.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that it is still too early in investigations for officials to reach any definite conclusions, but added that the plot "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members, and it was international in scope. It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot." A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said that dozens of people—possibly as many as 50—were involved in the plot. Their plan involved airline passengers hiding masked explosive devices inside carry-on luggage. Referring to the plot as "the real deal," the official added that although the terrorist "were not yet sitting on an airplane," they were very close to traveling.

Chertoff said that the terror plot was in the final stages of planning. "We were really getting quite close to the execution phase," he said, but added that there is no indication of current plots within the United States. According to officials, the terrorists had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines, and Continental Airlines, for flights to major airports in New York, Washington, D.C., and California.

The extreme security-tightening measures at Heathrow have sent ripples throughout the world. Heathrow was immediately closed to most incoming flights of three hours or less from Europe, and British Airways canceled all its flights between Heathrow and airports in Britain, Europe, and Libya. Numerous flights from U.S. cities to the U.K. were canceled. Officials at Frankfurt, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have said that Heathrow-bound airplanes could land at their airports if necessary.

There were no commercial passenger planes in the air from Britain to the U.S. when the red alert was issued, according to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. She added that three cargo planes were aloft from London—one UPS plane and two Lufthansa—but they were allowed to continue on their way because the terror threat was targeted toward passenger planes.

U.S. administration officials have raised the threat level for flights from the U.K. to "red," designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks. This is the first time the red-level alert in the Homeland Security warning system has been invoked. All other flights, including domestic flights within the United States, were put under an "orange" alert, one step below the highest level. Hastily printed signs were posted at all major airports with red letters proclaiming, "No liquid or gels permitted beyond security."

Chertoff said that the extreme precautions are inconvenient, but necessary, adding that it is advisable to have more precaution and strongly increase security than not to act at all. "There's sufficient uncertainty as to whether the British have scooped up everybody," Chertoff added, saying that the plot was "as sophisticated as any we have seen in recent years as far as terrorism is concerned."