Report: Explosives were found on Monday’s London-Boston flight

posted at 3:16 pm on August 11, 2006 by Allahpundit
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Remember this? The flight that ended up returning to Heathrow because someone at Logan Airport recognized that one of the passengers was on the U.S. no-fly list? Yesterday I scoffed at the possibility that it had anything to do with the UK terror plot.

I’m still scoffing, but not as loudly. A report at DNA India is claiming that when British marshals searched the plane afterwards, they hit paydirt:

MUMBAI/NEW YORK CITY: An eerie prologue to the events of Thursday played out to anxious authorities on Sunday. Masked explosives capable of destroying an airplane midair were recovered in a tense operation from a family travelling from London to Boston.

A source at Heathrow airport recounted the drama. The five-member family — two adults and three children — boarded American Airlines Flight 109 for Boston. They checked in at the last moment, inviting only a perfunctory check of the children’s hand-baggage…

The aircraft landed safely at Heathrow and armed marshals boarded it to take the suspect and his family in custody. A search revealed the deadly cargo.

I’m skeptical. One, they got the day wrong. The flight left on Monday, not Sunday. Two, why would DNA India have this and not, say, the Times of London? Three, why haven’t other media sources picked it up?

There’s a 99% chance it’s bogus, I’d say. But it’s still plenty hot enough to merit a link.

Update: Michelle’s on firmer ground with this.

Update: The guy who tipped me to this e-mails to say it came from the Counterterrorism Blog, which notes the story has yet to be confirmed.

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