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Police give all-clear after searching aircraft at Sydney airport

CANBERRA, Aug. 17 (UNI)

Police at Australia’s Sydney airport have given the all-clear after fully examining an aircraft arriving from Fiji Thursday amid a threat that something suspicious might be on board.

 Emergency services personnel and airport authorities searched the Boeing 737 aircraft, after receiving a call suggesting that a ‘‘suspicious device’’ might be on board.

 Police said nothing was found during the two-hour extensive searching.

 ‘‘Police received unconfirmed reports earlier today that a suspicious device was on board the plane,’’ a NSW (state of New South Wales of which Sydney is the capital) police spokesman said.

 ‘‘Following an extensive search, nil items were found and the all-clear was given at 7:45 p.m. (Australian Eastern time, 0945 GMT),’’ she said.

 Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio quoted a spokeswoman of Virgin Blue, one of Australia’s major airliners, as saying that the call was received shortly before the flight from Fiji was due to land in Sydney Thursday afternoon.

 She said the threat was taken seriously, and the 100 passengerson board the flight were evacuated from the aircraft after the flight landed in Sydney.

The source of the alleged threat was unclear. The Seven television network reported it had been made by telephone from the Philippines.

Chief Superintendent Andres Caro, head of the police Aviation Security Group in the Philippines, said he was not aware of a threat being made against the plane.

Passenger Daniela Psiender, of Sydney, said those on board the plane had been separated into two groups after being taken off the flight and that her group was held as search dogs — a standard security measure at Sydney airport — looked over the group. They were then allowed to go.

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False bomb alert delays Vietnam Airlines flight

HANOI, Aug 19, 2006 (UNI)

Vietnam Airlines delayed a domestic flight Friday after a passenger joked there was a bomb in his luggage, which was actually stuffed with cash, a company spokesman said Saturday.

‘‘The 149 passengers including some foreigners on board the flight between Hanoi and Cam Ranh Friday morning had to leave the plane after the passenger joked he had a bomb in his luggage,’’ Nguyen Chan told AFP.

An air hostess had raised the alarm after hearing Nguyen Thai Son, 33, telling another passenger his luggage was very big because of a bomb.

Security officials failed to find any explosives but discovered a lot of Vietnamese currency the passenger was carrying for a working trip. He was detained for further investigations.

‘‘It is a severe incident and we will ask for a tough punishment,’’ Chan said. According to Vietnamese law, anyone obstructing air traffic faces a possible jail term of between one and five years.

A similar incident happened in May when a drunk passenger told stewards in Ho Chi Minh City there was a bomb in his suitcase as his plane was about to take off for Hanoi.

Earlier this month, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked airline authorities to tighten security following the foiled plot to blow up aircraft leaving Britain for the United States.

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Migs scrambled after no fly zone approached
New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI):

Two Mig-21 fighter aircrafts of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were swung into action in the western sector on Friday morning when a blip was seen on the radar approaching close to the no-fly zone in the area close to Bikaner in Rajasthan, opposite southern Punjab in Pakistan. The blip was caused due to an object trying to cross into the no-fly zone when the radar picked up the signal. The blip was also picked up by the Delhi Airport ATC.
Official sources disclosed, that the unidentified object did not cross the no-fly zone which covers a 10 kilometre area between India and Pakistan, and as per agreement is non-violable.
The intercepting Migs were flown from the Suratgarh Air Force base. The IAF spokesperson confirmed that an inquiry has been ordered into and it was too preliminary to judge the real identity of the object, which could have been a Pakistani aircraft or an Unidentified Aerial Vehicle (UAV). A detailed inquiry report is awaited.

Contarary to that.UAVs from both sides are used for cross border Spying

regds

MEL

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US student arrested for carrying dynamite in checked luggage

Houston, Aug 26 (UNI)

A college student was arrested at the airport here for allegedly carrying dynamite and other bomb-making material in his checked luggage and a plane coming to the US from Britain diverted following an alert leading to questioning of passengers.

 The two incidents were among the seven security-related developments which underlined the tense situation resulting from the recent foiled terror plot in Britain to blow up the US-bound flights.

 The 21-year old student, an American citizen identified as Howard McFarland Fish on board a Continental flight from Argentina, was found to be carrying in his checked luggage prohibited material, including half a stick of dynamite, during a routine check at Houston’s Bush International Airport but officials said terrorism was not involved.

 He is expected to appear before a Federal Court on Monday and could get up to ten years in prison if convicted. The prosecutors are yet to decide whether to prosecute him and on what charges.

 Officials quoted Fish as saying that he had been exploring mines in Bolivia and had purchased dynamite as a souvenir. He was also allegedly carrying a blasting cap, a home make fuse and a quarter pound of ammonium nitrate.

 Fish was in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday and was being questioned by it.

 In another incident, an American Airlines flight from Manchester in England to Chicago was diverted to Bangor airport in Maine and officials said they learnt of the threat only after the plane was in the air but did not elaborate.

 The passengers deplaned and were questioned by FBI.