Airport security in parts of the middle east needs some improvement.....

I noticed my niece in the UK had posted this on facebook via bbc...if it isn't a hoax that he has a suicide vest/belt, then for sure the security really failed. But you can't really discount anything these days - after seeing stories about the TSA missing guns and bombs in tests by undercover agents, anything is possible (and I know the TSA has nothing to do with Egypt... :) )

The security screeners must have been "asleep at the switch" when they
processed that guy!

...or the guy was bluffing about having a suicide vest. Nothing a security screener in any country can do about that.

well he's caught now, and no explosions.

Unlike the guy last night in Washington DC who not only get himself shot but a bystander wounded, too

Those of us who live in the USA remember that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/politics/tsa-failed-undercover-airport-screening-tests/

95% failure rate!

However, someone I know who goes to India regularly said airport security was very tight there after the Pakistan bombings over the weekend. He said he had to remove his shoes and get a pat down in addition to everything else. That, he said, he has never seen before when visiting.

As for the incident this morning, officials say it was not terrorism related.

It could be just the perception of poor security to cause some to bluff or act. Criminals tend to try to penetrate weak systems, or those perceived to be weak.

Excerpt from 3/29/16 NY Times article "Why Airline Hijackings Became Relatively Rare"

Meanwhile, despite stricter screening measures, analysts said confidence in the security at certain airports was still insufficient enough to create enough doubt to allow a hijacker to succeed even without any weapons.
“Today you can hijack an aircraft with just words,” Mr. Shanks said. “All it takes is that uncertainty.”

So its all ended well.. no one hurt or killed.
Suspects explosive belt was a fake( which may explain why it got through security) .
and it had nothing to do with terrorism,, apparently the guy was a bit unhinged and love sick ..

Crazies everywhere.

Thankfully this incident wasn't related to terrorism and it all ended well. Too bad this lovesick moron couldn't have used some other method to contact his ex-wife, and saved everybody a lot of trouble. The President of Cyprus made a statement to the effect that "the suspect was not a terrorist, but was an idiot," which seems like a good description.

Watching the flight crew exit the cockpit via the windows was somewhat reminiscent of some of the hijackings from the '70s.

This happened at Newark Liberty airport a few months ago. It's told by Bill Spadea, the witness, on a NJ radio station. Funny, yet sad or scary. It takes about 5 minutes to listen.

http://nj1015.com/spadea-recounts-the-suspicious-airport-package-saga/

Paul, that is a great story and you are right...funny, yet sad and kinda scary!

I love the reference to the Festivus pole!

Hi Pam,

Glad you liked it. Crazy. If I didn't hear about this on the news also, I would have thought he was exaggerating.

Paul

MrsEB,

You're absolutely right, security in Israel is stellar. I forgot about that and have amended the title of this thread accordingly.