“Suicide Bomber” flew to Davao unchecked!
Airport guards flunked anti-terror test 2 times
A MAN WEARING a jacket and carrying a bag was able to sneak a bomb onto a flight from Manila to Davao City last month at the height of the nationwide security alert after Britain uncovered a plot to blow up transatlantic planes.
The man pulled off the same stunt on the return flight to Manila.
Had he detonated the bomb, he would have turned the commercial plane into a fireball and killed himself, the crew and hundreds of other passengers.
The man turned out to be a civilian antiterrorism expert tapped by a government official to test security measures at Philippine airports after British police foiled a plan to blow up US-bound planes in midair using liquid explosives.
Security was tightened at London’s Heathrow airport on Aug. 10, setting off alarms at airports across the globe, including in the Philippines.
But the security and antiterrorism expert, who asked not to be named because of his work, said he managed to bring the bomb and its components onto the plane on Aug. 14 despite the additional security measures at the Manila domestic airport, like the banning of hand-carried fluids and gels.
A similar “insertion of bomb components scenario” is expected to be conducted at other airports in the country as part of efforts to upgrade the antiterrorism capability of airport personnel.
At the departure gate, the antiterrorism expert said he passed through the walk-in detector, frisking and X-ray areas.
He underwent the same security checks at the boarding area.
To prove that he was able to get the explosive and its components past security personnel, he filmed the bomb he had assembled on the plane and showed the footage recently to select members of the media.
How did he get the bomb and its components past the tight security?
C4 plastic bomb
The security expert said he attached a piece of C4, a plastic explosive, to the sole of his leather shoe, and placed another piece inside an electric adaptor.
The wires he placed in a “secret” pocket near his belt.
While at the scanning and X-ray area prior to boarding, he casually placed a cellular phone in the basket that security personnel checked manually. The cell phone could serve as a detonator.
Ten minutes after takeoff from the Manila domestic airport, the antiterrorism expert said he got up from his seat and went to the plane’s lavatory. Inside, he mixed all the materials together. He then pulled out a digital camera from his jacket and took a video of his lethal concoction.
“The only missing act was the push on the button to blow up the aircraft,” he said in an interview.
“In a real terrorist threat, the terrorist, usually a suicide bomber, will not hesitate and push the button to accomplish his or her mission.”
[...] Remember a while back when we had an article about a “Suicide Bomber” who was really a security expert, who was testing the airport security? As you recall, he brought bomb components on a plane going from Manila to Davao, then again from Davao to Manila. Each time he was able to slip through security unchecked. [...]
Terrorists strike like thieves in the night. And we will never know when and how. Airport inspectors should always be 100 percent vigilant in doing their job. Complacency will do us harm!