U.S. Airline Threat Level Highest Ever, Following UK Terror Plot

British authorities announced early Thursday morning that they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several airplanes in mid-flight towards the United States using explosives smuggled aboard in carry-on luggage. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said, “We think this was an extraordinarily serious plot and we are certain that we’ve prevented an attempt to commit mass murder with an unimaginable scale.” The Bush administration said the scheme was “suggestive of your al-Qaida plot.”

UK officials have raised security to its highest level in Britain-suggesting a terrorist attack might be imminent. Carry-on luggage has become frozen on all trans-Atlantic flights. Security barriers at London’s Heathrow Airport were supported with huge lines as officials sought out explosives, removing all kinds of liquid apart from baby formula, that is tested before being allowed aboard.

The U.S. government raised its threat tuned in to its highest level ever for commercial flights from Britain to the United states of america, as a result of concerns because the terror plot continues to be investigated and all participants may not have been located and apprehended yet. British Home Secretary john Reid declared 21 people have been arrested in London, Birmingham, and outlying suburbs, like the alleged “main players” in the plot. Searches continue to be ongoing in several locations.

Tighter security has been enforced hastily at many airports all over the world and extra measures were set up for those flights in Britain. Laptop computers, iPods, remotes, and mobile phones were banned from being carried onboard. Liquids including hair gel, beverages, toothpaste, baby oil, makeup, and suntan lotion were banned from flights in the Britain and also the U.S., indicating the reality that officials were looking for liquid explosives. A plot by terrorist mastermind Ramzi Youssef was foiled inside the mid-1990s to inflatable 12 airplanes simultaneously within the Pacific using improvised bombs from liquid materials hidden connected lens solution containers.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff declared it is still too soon in investigations for officials to reach any definite conclusions, but added that the plot “was sophisticated, it had a large amount of members, plus it was international in scope. It absolutely was in a few respects suggestive of your al-Qaida plot.” A senior U.S. counterterrorism official asserted dozens of people-possibly as much as 50-were active in the plot. Their plan involved airline passengers hiding masked explosive devices inside carry-on luggage. Referring to the plot as “the genuine article,” the state added that even though terrorist “were not yet sitting on an airplane,” these folks were very close to traveling.

Chertoff declared the terror plot was in the ultimate stages of planning. “We were really getting quite close to the execution phase,” he said, but added that there’s no indication of current plots inside Usa. In accordance with officials, the terrorists had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines, and Continental Airlines, for flights to major airports in Nyc, Washington, D.C., and California.

The ultimate security-tightening measures at Heathrow have sent ripples around the world. Heathrow was immediately closed to many incoming flights of three hours or less from Europe, and British Airways canceled it’s flights between Heathrow and airports in Britain, Europe, and Libya. Numerous flights from U.S. cities towards the U.K. were canceled. Officials at Frankfurt, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have declared Heathrow-bound airplanes could land at their airports if required.

There were no commercial passenger planes up from Britain for the U.S. if the red alert was issued, in accordance with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. She added that three cargo planes were aloft from London-one UPS plane and two Lufthansa-but they were able to carry on their way since the terror threat was targeted toward passenger planes.

U.S. administration officials have raised the threat level for flights in the U.K. to “red,” designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks. Here is the first-time the red-level alert in the Homeland Security warning system has been invoked. Other flights, including domestic flights within the Usa, were put under an “orange” alert, a stride below the best level. Hastily printed signs were posted whatsoever major airports with red letters proclaiming, “No liquid or gels permitted beyond security.”

Chertoff declared the ultimate precautions are inconvenient, but necessary, adding that it’s advisable to have more precaution and strongly increase security today to do something whatsoever. “There’s sufficient uncertainty as to whether the British have scooped up everybody,” Chertoff added, saying that the plot was “as sophisticated as any we percieve lately as far as terrorism can be involved.”