Near miss: What could have been 8/10

Technorati tags: Terrorism, UK, Heathrow, BBC

Not sure if many people were aware of this or not, but BBC News reported yesterday that a plot to blow up a number of planes bound for the US was thwarted.

Needless to say, all flights out of Heathrow
were cancelled as a result

If successful, this incident would probably have been called 8/10 (as in August 10). The targeted planes were to have flown out of Heathrow airport, to various destinations in the United States. Aircraft from three airlines is said to have been the targets. Liquid explosives were to be used, stored in soft drink bottles brought on-board in hand luggages, and were to have been detonated using electronic detonators.

So far no details as yet as to which organization was behind this attempt, or if anyone has claimed responsibility. However, BBC has also reported that 21 arrests have been made in relation to this latest terrorism attempt.

Other news agencies have also reported on this, including:
► Associated Press
► The Star
► Get latest updates (from Yahoo! News)

Meanwhile, Heathrow airport remains in chaos, as added security measures have been taken. And the latest update from BBC is that several arrests in Pakistan have also been made in relation to the attempted mass aircraft bombing.