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?
So, in the words on Regis..."Is that your final answer?"
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