A fake bomb carried on board a cargo plane from Britain was only discovered when it reached Istanbul, Turkey.
The revelation has exposed security lapses in the system five months after two real bombs were found on cargo planes in Leicestershire and Dubai last year.
This time the bomb was a hoax but it still managed to evade detection even when it was delivered to UPS Camden, North London two weeks ago.
The fake bomb was cleverly disguised within a cake box and consisted on a timer, wires and a detonator. The fact that the hoax was not discovered until the plane arrived in Istanbul has sparked concerns regarding airline security in this country.
Since the discovery of two bombs disguised as printers which were sent to the US by al-Qaeda last October, cargo screening procedures worldwide were supposed to have been stepped up.
The fact that nowadays much air cargo travels on passenger planes has increased the risks from poor security.
Officials have said that they take this security breach very seriously. A spokesman at the Department for Transport said they were aware of the incident and were taking steps to ensure a similar incident would not occur.
He said: “We have already begun an investigation which will look at all aspects of this incidents, including UPS’s procedures.”
“The UK has one of the toughest security regimes for air cargo in the world. All security measures are subject to continuous review.”
A spokesman for UPS confirmed: “Two weeks ago, a suspicious package travelled in the UPS network aboard an all-cargo aircraft from the United Kingdom to Istanbul.”
He also verified that: “UPS is cooperating with the British Department for Transport’s investigation of the incident.”
The company also spoke of its “multi-layered approach” designed to deal with security issues and protect staff, aircraft and customers’ shipments.
However, a report released today by Tobias Feakin of the Royal United Services Institute stated that more needs to be done to improve all aspects of airline security.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that a 26-year-old man has been arrested at his home address on March 23 on suspicion of producing the bomb hoax.
He has been taken to a north London police station and has now been released on bail to return later in May.
References:
Fake bomb found on plane
The Department of Transport start investigation
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