Terrorists operating in teams of five may be plotting suicide missions to hijack commercial airliners on the East Coast, Europe or Australia this summer possibly using “common items carried by travelers, such as cameras, modified as weapons,” according to an urgent memo sent last weekend to all U.S. airlines and airport security managers. The “information circular” issued July 26 was drawn from recent intelligence reports that detail the most specific terrorist plots involving passenger aircraft in the United States since four hijacked jetliners were used in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in western Pennsylvania. “The plan may involve the use of five-man teams, each of which would attempt to seize control of a commercial aircraft either shortly after takeoff or shortly before landing at a chosen airport,” the Transportation Security Administration memo said. “This type of operation would preclude the need for flight-trained hijackers.” Full Story
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