Czech Report Shows Egyptians Probing Flight Defenses
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
In a September 18 article for the Daily Standard, "Practice Makes Terror," (blogged about here) I argued that the "rash of false alarms" following the August 10 revelation of a foiled transatlantic air terror plot may not have been entirely false. I argued that there may be casings and dry runs occurring -- and that a number of incidents that were casings may not end up being remembered as such.
Now a new article in Norway's Aftenposten lends further credence to the view that casings are indeed occurring:
Czech security police (BIS) have reported an attempt to storm the cockpit of a flight from Oslo to Prague. The BIS annual report for 2005, released on Tuesday, mentions flight OK 447 in September 2005, where three Egyptian citizens tried to gain access to the pilots. According to BIS spokesman Jan Subrt, police terrorism experts believe that the three Egyptians were not trying to hijack the plane but rather testing the security measures on board the plane, which was owned by Czech Airlines (CSA). "The crew on board discovered the three Egyptians trying to open the door into the cockpit. When the stewards intervened they immediately gave up their attempts and gave the excuse that they were looking for a staff member because they wanted to buy chewing gum," Subrt said. BIS managed to identify the trio but could not demonstrate any links to Islamist terrorist organizations. The three were apprehended upon landing and Czech security police escorted them to Egypt after questioning. Subrt said that their suspicions were based on more than that the incident just "concerned three Arabs" but would not divulge details that led BIS to believe that there was a terrorism link to the event.
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