safety in terrorist situations

[CFI Adam]

After the recent Bomb threat on British airways flight BAW18B I feel there is a missing link in training of how to handle these situations. I think the captain of this flight was absolutely insane for not ordering an evacuation after accessing the situation. I would love your thoughts on this matter after watching the video if you aren't already familiar with the situation 

 

Here is the ATC audio Tape 

 

[Andy95W]

I’ve been an airline pilot for 24 years, and a captain for about half of that.  Bomb procedures are considered sensitive information that isn’t supposed to be discussed.  I edited my response to just give a few common sense items to think about.

You have to consider the number of passengers who will be injured during an evacuation.  That number, even amongst able-bodied adults, is much higher than you’d imagine.  And what about the elderly? Or the passenger that they said that was in a wheelchair?

How many broken ankles and sprained limbs are worth the speedy evacuation when nearly all bomb threats are hoaxes?  I think the captain did a good job, and I wouldn’t want to second-guess his actions.  But it would be nice if the airport support personnel could’ve done their jobs more quickly.  That was a long time to have to wait for stairs and busses.

Edited May 7 by Andy95W

[ttflyer]

I'm not an airline pilot but I would also think that the vast majority (like just about all) of "bomb threats" are hoaxes (as this one was).  Weighed against the high probability of injury as stated above, I think the captain made the correct choice. 

If someone really wants to blow up an airplane, they aren't going to warn you, they are just going to blow it up (if they can).

[PeteMc]

Yes, there are screw ups in security and a bomb MIGHT have made it on the plane.  But as the others have said, it's highly unlikely. 

Unless there's an actual person (or persons) that brought on things they combined to create some sort of incendiary (or less likely) an explosive, then you have to consider the odds that it's a hoax. 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

26 minutes ago, PeteMc said:

Yes, there are screw ups in security and a bomb MIGHT have made it on the plane.  But as the others have said, it's highly unlikely. 

Unless there's an actual person (or persons) that brought on things they combined to create some sort of incendiary (or less likely) an explosive, then you have to consider the odds that it's a hoax. 

 

If you can get an oxygen generator out of the overhead without anybody noticing. Which I’ve been told you can if you know what you are doing. Scrape the contents out into a coffee cup with a pen and mix it with 10 packs of sugar from the galley, then put it back in and screw a pipe plug into the output, you could blow the side out of the plane. The oxygen generators have a very short fuse, so it would be a subside.mission.

[kortopates]

A bomb threat experience-
My wife and I experienced a bomb threat on a flight a couple years ago. It was a terrible experience that went on all night. But in the end was merely an inconvenience as no one was hurt.
Not long into the flight, the Capt informed us of a bomb threat that was called in and that they had to take seriously. The lights were dimmed and we were all instructed to stay in our seats for the duration; including all crew members.
we landed around midnight and then taxied far away from the rest of the airport traffic while we waited for stairs and other personnel to start the evacuation. Probably most of an hour. We were finally guided off the aircraft to an area by the plane where we all stood for the next several hours. baggage was also removed and placed on the tarmac not far away from us. It seemed their focus was to contain the threat - not really our safety. eventually dogs made the rounds sniffing for explosives. Eventually some transport vehicles without seats arrived and we were allowed to board with our carry-on’s. But the vehicles stayed parked as they continued to inspect the checked luggage and plane. Clearly they didn’t want to loose people till they were certain there was no threat. Meanwhile we’re still standing, just in the vehicles without seats. Many begin to sit on their carry-ons while some of the woman become vocal about the need to visit a restroom. It’s been 5-6 hrs since we landed. As tempers begin to flare they finally agree to escort one of the vehicles to a restroom. Most of the women get on, it wasn’t full so i told my wife i am joining them. She didn’t join me. The vehicle took us to an industrial area on the field with restrooms; still far away from the terminal.

When i got back to the plane, they had finally started sending remaining pax to the terminal. My wife was already on her way when i got back. i looked for my bag but couldn’t find it so gave up and boarded a vehicle to the terminal where i did find her with both our bags.

By now it’s near 7 am. We had paid for a hotel room on the airport to get some sleep before our next connecting flight in the morning. But now it was time to head for the gate for our next flight - thoroughly exhausted.
But at least we made our connecting flight and no one was hurt. But standing all night while they searched was brutal enough. But it seems they could have driven us a safe distance away from the possible bomb threat while they continued their 6 hour search explosives.

Although i am critical of the airport authorities for how they treated us during the search, I would much prefer to see the person responsible brought to justice - but i assume that is very rare.
Hope it never happens to any of you!


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