Althouse: "A suspicious device found in the toilet of an Air France flight to Paris is a bomb..."

December 20, 2015

"A suspicious device found in the toilet of an Air France flight to Paris is a bomb..."

Kenyan authorities say.

23 comments:

Sal said...: I read earlier that it wasn't an actual bomb. Anyone seen Clock Boy lately?; 12/20/15, 10:36 AM
Curious George said...: Trump's fault.; 12/20/15, 10:52 AM
Michael K said...: The Air France CEO is denying it. Of course, he would do that now that the flight is safe,; 12/20/15, 10:58 AM
DrSquid said...: Real bomb or not, this news brings my interest in traveling to Mombasa, or on any airline that flies there, to a new low of less than zero; 12/20/15, 11:17 AM
DrSquid said...: Real bomb or not, this news brings my interest in traveling to Mombasa, or on any airline that flies there, to a new low of less than zero; 12/20/15, 11:18 AM
Big Mike said...: Latest is that it's a false alarm, however near the bottom of the story it's mentioned that the box did contain a real timer (cue the schoolboy from Texas). A dry run?; 12/20/15, 11:34 AM
campy said...: I blame Sarah Palin and her violent, eliminationist rhetoric.; 12/20/15, 11:34 AM
madAsHell said...: We just returned from Costa Rica. The plane from San Jose to LA was delayed for 20 minutes. It turns out the delay was not mechanical, but passenger related. They gave us a second pat-down on the jetway to the plane. They needed the delay to execute the pat-down. Only the flight heading to LA encountered the extra scrutiny.

I'm thinking security is on high alert, and Obama is on the golf course.

Commercial plug.....Costa Rica is highly recommended. I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn't in the States. The ATMs will dispense colones (CR currency), or dollars, and Spanglish is widely spoken. Flying fish really do fly.; 12/20/15, 11:41 AM
madAsHell said...: @DrSquid

after the Paris-bound flight from Mauritius was forced to make an emergency landing in Mombasa at 12.37am when a suspicious looking package was discovered in the toilet.; 12/20/15, 11:46 AM
Anonymous said...: I have doubts.

If you are ground crew and smuggle a bomb on board, you need a timer.

If you are a passenger and smuggle a bomb on board, all you need is to assemble it and manually initiate the fusing.

If there is a bomb, I question the connection to passengers...; 12/20/15, 12:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Real bomb or not, this news brings my interest in traveling to Mombasa, or on any airline that flies there, to a new low of less than zero

Why? The flight originated in Mauritius, and diverted to Mombasa after the suspicious item was found.

Peter; 12/20/15, 1:28 PM
David said...: A statement was posted online by Kenya Airports Authority under the headning "Kenyan Security foil a bombing attempt on Air France".

No. Kenyan security allowed someone to put a bomb on the plane. A passenger or crew member foiled the bombing attempt.

It's been quite a while since I went through the Nairobi airport. In fact it was pre 9/11. But it was far and away the most chaotic airport I have ever experienced, and I've experienced quite a few. (All in Africa or Central America. I've at least had the luck not to have to fly in Russia.); 12/20/15, 2:00 PM
Gahrie said...: It was probably just a bidet...; 12/20/15, 2:09 PM
David said...: Whoops. Turns out the flight originated in Mauritius. Very poor reading comprehension by me. Mauritius a island in the Indian Ocean where the Frenchies love to vacation. Now the airline is saying there was no security breach, since no bomb got through, just a timer.

That does not comfort me.

I still don't see how Kenya security gets much credit, but since today I can't read the first two paragraphs of a simple article correctly, maybe my opinion is suspect.; 12/20/15, 2:09 PM
Darrell said...: Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?; 12/20/15, 2:29 PM
Bobby said...: madAsHell,

Where did you go in Costa Rica? We went to Quepos / Manuel Antonio last year, and are heading to Tamarind this spring. The food, the diving, the nature, the people- it really is pura vida.; 12/20/15, 4:01 PM
Big Mike said...: @David, Kenya security gets credit because until the device was fully disassembled it seemed like a bomb, timer and all. In your book they get no credit because it wasn't a bomb and didn't go off? It could have been a bomb and they had to take care with it and attempt to disarm it.; 12/20/15, 4:34 PM
JamesB.BKK said...: Kenyan government issues press release claiming credit for averting another mass killing based on removing device, which it did not discover, from plane passing over and needing to land? Pathetic. Decent job on the removal though. Who in Mauritius allowed this situation to be created? That is the question.; 12/20/15, 6:05 PM
Grackle said...: @David, was in Nairobi in October. Nice airport. I will be in Newark tomorrow and THAT will be chaos.

FG; 12/20/15, 7:41 PM
donald said...: I stayed at the Casitas Eclipse with my wife about 10 years ago. Unbelievable. Front faced out over the Pacific, the back to a rain forest with Monkeys, sloths, Toucans, hell everything. Went fishing with two guys who didn't speak any English. Caught 5 big sailfish and about 25 Yellowfins over 50 pounds all by myself. Met Rick Camp. Manuel Antinio was incredible and even got some surfing in. That is not a fish story. Damned St day ever.

The night we got home, I turned on the TV to Outdoor Life Network. There was Andy Mill fly fishing for sail fish with the guys that took me out. And you know what? They spoke English. Heh.; 12/20/15, 8:09 PM
MadisonMan said...: I'm flying more often for work now. These stories make me wonder. But at least my flights are all domestic. I have a bit more confidence in TSA Security Theater vs. Mauritian Security.; 12/21/15, 7:12 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I will be in Newark tomorrow and THAT will be chaos."

Huh. Of the three NYC metro area airports, Newark is my favorite, the one I have used exclusively ever since People's Express existed. (That was their home base and their cheap fares the reason I started flying from Newark instead of LaGuardia. I just checked Google: they were bought by Continental in 1987. Gosh, hard to believe it's been that long ago.); 12/21/15, 8:03 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: The suspect is a retired "French" police officer.; 12/21/15, 9:50 AM