The United States may broaden its ban on in-flight laptops and large electronics to cover some flights from European countries, a move that highlights the growing concern over the increased sophistication of terrorist bombmakers.
DHS Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke is expected to fly to Brussels Wednesday to hammer out the details of a potential laptop ban with European Union officials. The meeting followed a call on Friday in which Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and several EU commissioners discussed the matter, a European Commission spokesman said.
The expanded ban would come just as President Donald Trump and the White House grapple with a torrent of criticism that he inappropriately divulged sensitive intelligence from a U.S. partner about the laptop-related terror threat to Russian officials last week in the Oval Office.
It would follow on directives from the United States and the United Kingdom in March banning laptops and other large electronic devices in the cabins of incoming flights to the United States and the United Kingdom from several Middle East destinations.
The likely introduction of an expanded ban suggests that the threat is real, and not a backdoor effort to hamstring some Middle East airlines who U.S. carriers say compete unfairly for long-haul traffic.
The widening of the ban to Europe "indicates to me the threat is very real and continues to be of great concern," said Rick "Ozzie" Nelson, a former Navy helicopter pilot and national security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"DHS is very aware as an organization the impact a laptop ban like this will have on the public," he said. "They don't pursues these types of bans unless there is significant reliable intelligence."
Depending on its scope, the broadened ban could affect tens of thousands of passengers on transatlantic flights, and will likely create headaches for business travelers and the airlines who rely on them for profitability. Around 40 percent of overseas travelers to the U.S. come from Europe.
DHS spokesman David Lapan said no final decision had been reached to broaden the ban. At Wednesday's meetings, officials aim to "assess any new threats and work towards a common approach to address them," the EC spokesman said.
In March, the Trump administration abruptly banned electronic devices larger than a cellphone from the cabins on direct flights from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa, citing terrorist threats. Soon after, the U.K. instituted a similar ban, though it targeted different airlines.
Administration officials said the move was meant to prevent terrorists from sneaking a bomb into a flight cabin, where it's easier to detonate and likely to have more lethal impact than a bomb stowed in the cargo hold. Large baggage destined for the hold is also typically more heavily screened than passenger baggage.
"The terrorists recently have not liked to get the bomb out of their hand," said Peter Goelz, who served as managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board during the Clinton administration.
Trump shared elements of the highly classified intelligence about the laptop bomb threat that was gathered from a U.S. ally with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during an Oval Office meeting last week, the Washington Post reported Monday and other news outlets confirmed. Trump himself defended his decision to share the intelligence with Russia in tweets Tuesday morning.
Experts warned Trump's unorthodox disclosures could have broad implications for intelligence sharing between America and its allies.
"This is not a little issue and this shouldn't be treated as a political issue," said John Cohen, a former counterterrorism coordinator at DHS under the Obama administration. "Anything that could disrupt our ability or the ability of our allies to collect this vital intelligence can really place Americans at risk."
Counterterrorism experts argued that including European countries in the ban makes sense because thousands of radicalized Europeans have traveled to Islamic State territory in Iraq and Syria in recent years. DHS officials have long been concerned some could eventually return to Europe with knowledge of how to build sophisticated explosive devices, and seek to plant one on a plane bound for the United States.
In 2006, British police disrupted a plot to carry onboard explosives disguised as soft drinks onto flights from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada.
Officials have also been aware of Islamic State and al-Qaeda efforts to construct a bomb inside a laptop for years, and have consistently updated airport screening procedures to keep pace, Cohen said. But potential terrorists are constantly searching for new methods to construct bombs.
The ban, according to some reports triggered by intelligence collected in a U.S. commando raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen in January, could indicate bombmakers have found a new explosive material that contains difficult-to-detect chemical compounds. DHS will need time to update current screening technologies and retrain bomb-sniffing dogs, at which point the ban could potentially be relaxed.
"I've seen [bans] last six months, I've seen them last three months, but they aren't permanent security protocols," Cohen said.
Meanwhile, some aviation experts warned the ban, if not properly implemented, could create a safety threat.
Lithium ion batteries are found in all kinds of consumer electronic devices. With an expanded in-flight ban on such items, more of them would end up in the cargo holds of planes, where it's difficult to prevent or extinguish a fire. Lithium batteries in electronics that were stored in a flight cabin's overhead bin have combusted in the past.
"The lithium ion batteries continue to be a challenge because if they're poorly manufactured or there's a manufacturing flaw they can cook off," said Goelz, now a senior vice president at the lobbying firm O'Neill and Associates.
The fire suppression system found in cargo holds likely won't be effective at extinguishing a lithium ion battery fire, said Goelz, because such systems rely on depleting oxygen that feeds fires, but fires from lithium batteries feed off lithium.
Due to this hazard, it's illegal to ship cargo packages of just lithium ion batteries on passenger flights.
Last month, the head of the European Aviation Safety Agency, Patrick Ky, warned the laptop ban could increase the risk of "spontaneous ignition or thermal runaway of lithium batteries." He urged officials to "take all precautions to make sure that mitigating one risk does not lead to another risk."
In January 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement on "the potential risk for a catastrophic hull loss" from transporting lithium batteries either in the main cabin or the hull of the airplane.
It is not yet clear how long any ban on devices may last, but it is sure to dent profits of airlines, which count on business travelers as a main source of revenue.
Government and industry are trying "to figure out what is the right response to this," Christian Beckner, deputy director for George Washington's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.
"Even if there is a potential risk with the airport screening system, are there other ways that the vulnerability can be mitigated?"
The Washington Post
Wed May 17 2017
Officials have also been aware of Islamic State and al-Qaeda efforts to construct a bomb inside a laptop for years.
Kes model sambilan bunuh teman lelaki: Tarikh baharu sebutan ditetap 28 Mei
Mahkamah Majistret menetapkan 28 Mei ini sebagai tarikh baharu sebutan kes seorang model sambilan wanita yang didakwa membunuh teman lelakinya.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Misi Break The Siege: Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
Pantau Agenda Reformasi hari ini membawakan Profesor Hubungan Antarabangsa di Fakulti Undang-Undang dan Hubungan Antarabangsa di UNISZA, Prof Dr Mohd Afandi Salleh, yang juga merupakan bekas peserta misi Flotilla ke Gaza pada 2018, berkongsi pengalamannya ketika ditahan pihak rejim Israel sewaktu misi tersebut. Antara lain perbincangan tertumpu ke arah aspek hubungan antarabangsa serta undang-undang di perairan antarabangsa.
Nahas helikopter Lumut: Mindef pertimbang keperluan teliti SOP latihan udara - Mohamed Khaled
Mindef akan mempertimbangkan keperluan untuk meneliti semula SOP latihan udara membentuk formasi penerbangan lintas hormat bagi mengelak tragedi.
Keselamatan siber: Keterangkuman, kepelbagaian perkasa sumbangan wanita
Wanita harus mula memberi fokus dan penekanan terhadap keterangkuman dan kepelbagaian perspektif bagi membolehkan mereka menangani cabaran industri dengan berkesan.
Penyerang Kamal Adli dijatuhkan hukuman lebih 2 tahun oleh mahkamah Singapura
Lelaki yang menyerang pelakon Malaysia, Kamal Adli menggunakan belantan tahun lepas, dijatuhkan hukuman penjara dua tahun, empat bulan dan dua minggu.
Peruntukan pembangkang: Terserah Muhyiddin untuk persoal keikhlasan kerajaan - Fadillah
Beliau enggan melayani sindiran bekas Perdana Menteri yang juga Pengerusi Perikatan Nasional, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin tentang isu tersebut.
SPRM jangka ada beberapa tangkapan isu tuntutan palsu anak menteri besar - Azam
SPRM akan membuat beberapa tangkapan lagi, berhubung kes melibatkan anak seorang menteri besar bagi membantu siasatan kes tuntutan palsu berjumlah RM600,000.
SPRM akan panggil beberapa lagi individu bantu siasatan
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) akan memanggil beberapa lagi individu bagi membantu siasatan dakwaan pemalsuan dokumen tuntutan berjumlah RM600,000 melibatkan lima individu termasuk anak seorang Menteri Besar.
Pak Lah stabil, masih perlukan rehat secukupnya
Mantan Perdana Menteri, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dimasukkan ke Institut Jantung Negara (IJN), di sini, pada Rabu setelah mengalami small spontaneous pneumothorax.
Buat masa ini, keadaan beliau dilaporkan stabil dan masih dirawat di Unit Penjagaan Koronari (Coronary Care Unit).
Buat masa ini, keadaan beliau dilaporkan stabil dan masih dirawat di Unit Penjagaan Koronari (Coronary Care Unit).
SPRM tidak pernah henti siasatan kes LCS - Azam Baki
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) tidak pernah menghentikan siasatan berhubung kes pembinaan Kapal Tempur Pesisir (LCS).
Hujan lebat luar biasa punca ban RTB Sungai Samagagah pecah
Berdasarkan bacaan di tiga stesen berdekatan sejak beberapa hari lalu, jumlah hujan dicatatkan antara 109 mm hingga 167.5 mm.
Video muzik Blackpink 'Kill This Love' diharamkan KBS gara-gara...
Salauran television Korea Selatan, KBS telah mengharamkan muzik video 'Kill This Love' kerana dianggap tidak sesuai untuk disiarkan.
Chelsea diharamkan beli pemain untuk dua jendela perpindahan
Chelsea didapati 'berdosa' oleh FIFA kerana melanggar peraturan melibatkan pendaftaran pemain berusia bawah 18 tahun.
Air pasang besar, keadaan pantai di Selangor terkawal
Menurut kenyataan Unit Pengurusan Bencana Negeri Selangor, ban ataupun benteng kepada pesisir pantai kukuh dan berada dalam keadaan baik selain tiada rebakan berskala besar.
Fenomena air pasang: Ban pecah di Kampung Batu 5, Kapar, bukan tumpuan
Kerajaan Selangor mengakui ban yang pecah di Kampung Batu 5, Jalan Kapar, di sini akibat fenomena air pasang besar semalam bukan fokus utama penambahbaikan ban dalam peruntukan segera RM4.3 juta.
JPS cadang tambah baik ban pantai Selangor atasi fenomena air pasang besar
Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar menjelaskan secara umumnya, julat pasang surut adalah berbeza di setiap kawasan pesisir pantai Malaysia iaitu antara 1.8 meter hingga 6.1 meter.
Kerjasama kerajaan negeri Selangor diperlukan atasi masalah banjir
Tan Sri Noh Omar berkata pihaknya maklum terdapat beberapa ban (benteng) yang pecah sehingga air laut melimpah ke kawasan sekitar seterusnya menyebabkan banjir.
Paras air laut melepasi ban punca banjir kilat di Selangor
Paras air laut pasang yang melepasi ban di beberapa kawasan di pesisiran pantai Selangor dilihat punca berlakunya banjir kilat yang melanda beberapa lokasi di negeri ini.
Frost tidak tolak ansur dengan soal kecergasan pemain
Pengarah BAM, Morten Frost Hansen meminta semua pemain kebangsaan menumpukan perhatian sepenuh terhadap soal mempertingkatkan tahap kecergasan masing-masing.
MCMC urged to find mechanism to curb misuse of Facebook
Datuk Shahaniza Shamsuddin said they currently cannot ban Facebook as it also has advantages as a medium of communication.