How would you smuggle weapons onto a plane?

[hedgehog]

I would start from the theory that if I were trying to smuggle weapons, I would hide them in an innocent spot, say a baby's car carrier or an aluminum crutch. If I wanted to ensure success, I might arrange a diversion, say a drunk or a hysterical parent, to be in the area when I was being checked. I would try to gt a clean cut looking, white American male to do the job, or better yet, a clean cut, white American middle aged overweight woman such as myself. I'm perfectly harmless, right? If by chance, I was caught, I would try to detonate my weapon in the guise of reaching into my purse to show my innocent object. I would be very helpful, babbling away trying to distract the agent.

The point of this exercise is to explain why agents search under frail elderly people in wheel chairs. It is to explain why agents don't want you jabbering away while they are checking the situation. It is to explain why you should do exactly as told if you are under suspicion. It is to explain why agents tend to be suspicious rather than helpful at times.

My kids and I are so squeaky clean you'd swear we were up to something. But we all know that if you get pulled over in traffic, you keep your hands on the wheel in plain sight and do exactly as instructed. The traffic cop has no way to know if you're fumbling in the glove box for a registration or a gun. The same thinking should apply at airports.

Terra, terra, terra aside, there are a very small number of jackasses out there trying to do harm. Until someone can think of a better procedure, the default assumption has to be that anyone boarding a plane might be one of those jackasses.

[slackmaster]

1. I'd just carry it on in plain sight

[hedgehog]

3. A few years back, I had a laptop that crapped out while I was on a trip.

I took it hope for repair, but I worried at every checkpoint that I would be asked to turn it on!I have to say, If I'd been asked to turn it on, and when the agent saw nothing happening, I would have expected and wanted it to be checked out even if I missed my flight.

[laughingliberal]

5. Could have lead to free tech support. lol nt

[slackmaster]

20. If it doesn't come on, start complaining that their machine broke your computer

;-)

[Mari333]

2. ....

[kestrel91316]

4. A pic only a cat lover can appreciate.....

[Parker CA]

6. BWWWAAAA HHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! Laughed out loud at this one. Nice!! ;-)

[laughingliberal]

7. Damn, that's cute! nt

[lunatica]

8. Nah. The cat would put it on the dog so it could nap during the unravelling

LOL!

[dysfunctional press]

13. exactly what i was thinking...

i can't imagine a single thing/cause that could convince a cat to give up it's own life voluntarily, even if it was to take out the infidels.

[Fumesucker]

30. Obviously you've never come across a feral mother cat with kittens..

"Protective" doesn't begin to describe it.

[Ikonoklast]

50. I'd rather grab hold of the business end of a chainsaw.

Less painful than messing with a momma kitty protecting her babies.

It's like a windmill of flashing miniature scythes. I have the scars to prove it.


Feral momma kitties will die protecting their young, or risk their lives to save then from danger.

[the blues]

11. lol! Don't let even that photo near an airport.

That cat means business.

[Chisox08]

16. OMG it's AL-CATTA

[jmowreader]

9. By not smuggling weapons on the plane

I'd get a prepaid cell phone, call a really big airport and tell them I was a freedom fighter (terrorists are like spies--they're only called what they are by other people) who was placing a bomb that couldn't be detected with current technology in a softside suitcase. The suitcase will be checked as baggage by either a man wearing blue dress pants or a woman wearing a sweater and skirt, but not necessarily at their airport, and the bomb was designed to detonate while the plane was on final approach to an airport.

A week later, TSA would still be opening bags trying to find this bomb and air traffic in the US would have come to a virtual standstill. It would be a very effective terror attack and it would only cost $39.95 to pull off--the cheapest phone they make, plus a $20 phone card.

[hedgehog]

12. Which goes to show that in general, terrorists are really, really

dumb! I could come up with dozens of effective terrorist attacks myself. Anyone who thinks Americans need guns to protect their freedoms has no idea of what we could do with what's in our pantries! Red Dawn has nothing on a group of high school students in AP Chem!

[hunter]

22. It's cheaper and safer to use a stolen phone. No checkout line security cams.

Maybe swipe it from the guys with the guns at a Tea Bagger rally?

( Oooops. Pretend I didn't post this. )

[LiberalFighter]

24. Maybe it wasn't stolen from a teabagger. Maybe it was a teabagger's phone.

[jmowreader]

35. I don't want to use a stolen phone

Imagine the poor bastard you stole it from. They would find him. They would arrest him. They would make his life a living hell. And he would need to buy a new phone.

Just get one of your female friends to wear clothes and a hairstyle she's never worn before to go in and buy it.

[MindPilot]

28. Every time I hear of an airport evacuation over a "suspicious package"

I think of this. Americans are so gullible and cowardly we will shut everything down at even the threat of a threat.

[NightWatcher]

10. you could carry enough PETN in a condom or two shoved up your bum to down a plane

ready for your full body cavity prior to boarding a plane?

[dysfunctional press]

14. a female could stash it in her vagina with a string attached to make it appear like a tampon.

i can't imagine a tsa yanking on that.

[Tesha]

37. And remember "Pinball" in "Con Air"; that's another pretty-valid approach.

The truth is that there is *NO AMOUNT OF SCREENING* that
can stop someone willing to trade their life to bring down
an airplane.

Tesha

[Xithras]

41. Actually, inside your torso is an even better way.

Inject the torso full of local anesthetics before hitting the airport. Cut the body open in the now-numb area, and slip the "package" directly into the body cavity. Stitch the wound closed. If security questions it, tell them that you had an appendectomy a day or two earlier.

Once on the plane, pull the stitches, slide the "package" out, and do your thing. Or you could put an impact trigger on it and just punch yourself in the gut when it's "go time". It's gonna hurt like a mother when the painkillers wear off, but if you're a suicide bomber, that isn't much of a concern anyway.

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about whether or not it is even POSSIBLE to completely secure airlines against terrorism, and he thought this one up in about three minutes. If a car mechanic can think that scenario up over a beer, you can bet that the real terrorists have already worked out exactly how it might be pulled off.

[MindPilot]

44. Having been a mechanic myself, I can tell you...

A bored mechanic is a dangerous mechanic.:think:

[lunatica]

15. I'm 61 with a double d size cup. I can hide anything under there

[Overseas]

17. Bribe Jim DeMint's non-unionized, insecure, underpaid baggage inspectors. //nt

[rrneck]

18. Buy the airplane.

Get a nice little twin engine aircraft, fill it full of something explosive, fly it a hundred feet off the deck into a stadium full of people.

The only real solution is to stop ass raping the planet for natural resources.

[mike_c]

21. all this airline "terrorism" is mostly theater anyway....

I mean, seriously. As you suggest, the real big-money terror possibilities are on the ground. Stadiums, malls, subway stations, school cafeterias. Highway IEDs.

If I wanted to spread terror, the LAST place I'd attack is an airplane, where all access is guarded and everyone is suspect. On the other hand, anyone could kill dozens on any afternoon during rush hour or at the mall on a weekend. Airline terror is nothing more than bad theater-- it's hard to see that it's helping anyone BUT the authoritarians who take advantage of such high profile distraction.

[bergie321]

33. Could you imagine the chaos

That a rush hour roadside bomb would cause in a major city?

[spanone]

27. i fly regularly on private jets. there is no security. no search. you walk on.

[rrneck]

46. How much terror could you spread

with one of these at a stadium or a parade?

[HopeHoops]

19. Disposable chop sticks in a sock and a small sheet of 40 grit sandpaper.

That blows the hell out of a box cutter or nail clippers.

[Javaman]

23. Eat 20 bean burritos before I get on. nt

[spin]

25. I've got a really good idea ...

Let's not make suggestions on how to smuggle weapons on aircraft or how to commit terrorist acts.

[MindPilot]

29. You think these ideas are orginal?

Is al-Qeada cruising DU looking for suggestions? There are reasons that these acts have not been committed and that is the al-Qeada boogieman is not fucking real.

A handful of crazies who obviously need help to even make a botched attempt. Most have to get FBI assistance just to form a cell.

[spin]

32. It is always possible that some fool might be lurking on DU ...

and decide to try something stupid. He might not be a member of a terrorist group (real or not real). He might be a mentally unstable individual with a desire for his fifteen minutes of fame. Often after an incident such as a school shooting we see a rash of similar incidents.

[ConcernedCanuk]

38. "mentally unstable individual " on DU ???

.
.
.

naaaaaaaaaaaah ....

:silly:

[spin]

40. Lurking my friend. Freepers often do that. (n/t)

[hedgehog]

34. I think the point people are making is that they could cause havoc

in 20 minutes with no more than what they have in their house. The fact that we have not seen overwhelming devastation day after day suggests that not many people want to commit terrorists acts within the US. I can think of Oklahoma City, the two attacks on the World trade Center and I'm guessing under 50 attacks on abortion clinics. These attacks were all nasty and devastating to the people directly affected. Still, considering the possibilities, someone out there isn't really trying very hard.

My point with the Op was that terrorists do not come complete with a flashing red arrow over their head. Until they do, the TSA agents have to assume that everyone they see is a terrorist until proven otherwise. I've herd many complaints about pre-flight searches and the way people are treated if there is the least question. Although the number of terrorists is vanishingly small compared to the number of passengers, if just one is successful, we'll all feel the pain. .

[spin]

45. It is suspicious that we have not had more attacks ...

We are very vulnerable in many areas.

I remember the terror that the Beltway sniper attacks caused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltway_sniper_attacks

It is possible that our government has done an excellent job of protecting us from terrorists and there are rumors that many plots have been stopped. But as you suggest just one successful attack would be devastating. As we used to say at work, "You can get 1000 ata boys, but one ah shit cancels them all out." Needless to say, I worked at a high pressure job before I retired.

I agree that if the level of dissatisfaction in our country was higher we would probably have more instances of terror. Many Americans fear attacks by radical Muslims but I've had the fortune to know several Muslims on a casual basis and I have found them to be hard working religious people who appreciate the opportunity our country offers. Most ran stores but two were excellent doctors that I recommended to my friends. The ones that I have met have impressed me as peaceful individuals who are a asset to our society. The fundie Christians I know strike me as far more dangerous. As you point out we seem to have serious problems with anti-abortion terrorists and white supremacy groups.

My concern with suggesting methods of sneaking weapons on aircraft is that you might provoke an unstable person to attempt an attack. Often when an incident attracts 24/7 coverage by the media, copycat incidents occur.

While the probability of someone using a suggestion in this thread to attempt a terrorist act is extremely low, it is still a possibility.

Before I retired, we used to discuss possible terrorist attacks at work. The people who participated in the discussion all had government security clearances and in no way would ever consider committing a terrorist act. We were able to conceive many creative and original ideas, none of which I would ever discuss on the internet. We often joked that we should work for the Department of Homeland Security as advisers. One thing that we quickly realized was how difficult it is is to cover all bases and prevent terrorist attacks. It's a daunting, and quite possibly, an impossible task.

Perhaps we have been extremely fortunate or perhaps the people who actually have the job of protecting us are EXTREMELY competent. We can only hope that either our luck or the ability of those who professionally fight terrorism continues.

[varelse]

47. Could it be that Janet Napolitano was right?

Maybe the system IS working to prevent most of the attacks?

[spin]

48. I sincerely hope so. I also hope that all the attention ...

results in a better system.

[MindPilot]

26. A hot, dry summer, a box of matches and a car with bad paper.

Light a couple dozen brushfires. If they really wanted to be effective, study the maps of the last few fires and so they can torch areas that haven't burned for several years.

[dysfunctional press]

39. okay...i'll bite...how does that apply to getting weapons on a plane?

or was it meant for a subthread i missed?

[MindPilot]

43. It doesn't

It was meant to be a continuation of the idea that there are far simpler ways to do far more damage than crashing an airplane.

Give me a check in the FAIL box for this one.

Edited to add: What hedgehog said in post 34.

[izquierdista]

31. Leave a Baby Ruth bar in the aisle

It cleared the whole swimming pool at Bushwood in 'Caddyshack'.

[pipi_k]

36. It would have to be rather small, but I would hide it

in a baby's stinky old poo-filled diaper.


"Here. Search THIS!!!"


:7



Just thought of another place:

colostomy bag.

[Motown_Johnny]

42. I would get a job making airplanes and hide them in the floor or ceiling

panels in the bathroom while the plane is still under construction. Then track who buys the plane and where it flys.

Then you can have some suicidal idiot go to the bathroom and pry off the panel whenever the plane is en route to a destination you want to terrorize.

[Contrary1]

49. Breast implants. n/t