Expect more delays when flying from points outside the US
Expect more delays when flying from points outside the US
Passengers on US-bound flights from Britain are facing delays and extra security measures after a man was charged with trying to blow up a plane.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a former UK student from Nigeria, is alleged to have hidden explosives in his clothes.
Police have been searching a number of central London properties in connection with the incident.
Travellers are undergoing “pat-down” searches before boarding and being restricted to one item of hand luggage.
Mr Abdulmutallab is said to have been an engineering student at University College London between 2005 and 2008.
But according to Whitehall sources he was denied a new visa this summer by the UK Border Agency after attempting to apply for a course at a bogus college.
The Metropolitan Police have been searching a flat at an apartment block in Mansfield Street, Marylebone, and other properties in the capital.
BBC reporter Helen Fawkes said that on Sunday morning 30 uniformed and plainclothes officers went into the flat, where officers had previously removed several items in clear plastic bags for examination.
Police have indicated the search is being scaled down and officers will continue the “crucial” task of identifying Mr Abdulmutallab’s associates, she added.
Passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit say a man was overpowered after trying to ignite explosives as the Airbus A330 came into land on Friday.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the device contained about 80g of a high explosive, which had been moulded around the suspect’s body and was apparently able to pass undetected through airport checks.
This prompted US authorities to impose added restrictions on passengers, including the pat-downs and a ban on leaving seats in the hour before landing.
Mr Abdulmutallab spent about 20 minutes in the toilet before the incident, it is alleged.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the BBC: “We’ve agreed with the US authorities enhanced search regimes for passengers on flights to and from the United States.
“Those have taken place immediately. They will lead to delays in flights to the US, which I’m sure passengers will understand in the circumstances.”
‘Massive delays’
UK airport operator BAA confirmed that passengers flying to the US would face increased searches before boarding and advised they leave more time to check in.
The British Airways website, meanwhile, said that under revised security arrangements, travellers to the US would only be allowed one piece of hand luggage.
A spokesman said: “We apologise to passengers for any delays to their journeys. Safety and security are our top priorities and will not be compromised.”
Passengers flying out on Saturday praised the airline for sending text messages warning of the new rules in advance.
Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent, told the BBC the extra checks were causing massive delays at a time when 25,000 people were leaving the UK on 100 daily US-bound flights.
“There’s going to be more strain on the check-in desks, lots of people turning up at the airports don’t know the new rule and of course there’s lots of repacking,” he said.
Mr Calder said questioning on US visa applications was unlikely to get more intrusive because it appeared Mr Abdulmutallab had travelled despite being of interest to the authorities.
However, he said if the pat-downs being imposed on travellers to the US were extended to all flights, it would get “very slow in terms of processing people”.
In the US a federal judge has formally charged Mr Abdulmutallab with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on Christmas Day.
The hearing took place in Mr Abdulmutallab’s hospital room at the University of Michigan Medical Center where he is being treated for burns.
An affidavit filed in support of the charge stated: “As the flight was approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion.”
It has emerged that Mr Abdulmutallab’s father, a prominent Nigerian banker, flagged up to US authorities concerns about his son’s extreme views.
He may also have been on the radar of UK intelligence but did not cause American officials serious concern and so was not on the US no-fly list.
It is understood one of the British authorities’ key priorities will be to check whether he has cropped up in the course of any other investigations.
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