Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

BRITISH-U.S. FLIGHTS BOMB PLOT • 89yield explosives, also known as detonating explosives, are generallystable at ordinary temperatures and require the low-grade explosivesfor detonation.The effects of bombings on victims are classed as primary, secondary,and tertiary. Primary effects include trauma to internal organscaused by the shock wave of the blast traveling through body tissues.Secondary effects include laceration or concussion caused by flyingshrapnel or other objects propelled by the explosion. Tertiary effectsinclude injuries caused by people falling or being knocked against theground or other objects by the explosion.Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) consist of munitions thatare rigged with a primary charge and initiator for attacking passingvehicles or people on foot. In the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. andother allied forces, insurgents have used cellular telephones as electronicinitiators for their IEDs. Vehicle-borne improvised explosivedevices (VBIEDs), consisting of a truck or car packed with explosivesand driven by a suicide volunteer against a target, or parked anddetonated remotely, have proven to be perhaps the most deadly anddestructive form of bombing.BRITISH-U.S. FLIGHTS BOMB PLOT. On 9 August 2006 Britishpolice conducted 69 raids in London, Birmingham, and Buckinghamshireand arrested 24 people suspected of plotting to bombin-flight aircraft bound from Great Britain to the United States usingliquid-based explosives that were nondetectable using current bomband explosives detection technology. The explosives were to beperoxide-based liquids that would be carried on board concealed assports drinks and which would be primed by the mixing of reagents,followed by their detonation. Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) hasbeen identified as the most likely explosive. Once it is produced bymixing the reagents, it is easily initiated by shock, heat, fire, or electricalcharge but is a relatively low-yield explosive.Seven flights were targeted, namely, Air Canada’s Flight 865 toMontreal and Flight 849 to Toronto; American Airlines’ Flight 91to Chicago and Flight 131 to New York; and United Airlines’ Flight959 to Chicago, Flight 931 to San Francisco, and Flight 925 to Washington,D.C. The attacks were to have occurred around 16 August2006 and were intended to destroy all seven airplanes en route overthe Atlantic Ocean, to make forensic analysis of the debris impossible.