Inbound airliner scenario helped prompt alert. Concerns that terrorists plan to hijack a foreign airliner to stage a catastrophic attack against Americans were among the factors that led the Bush administration to raise the terror alert status on Sunday, federal officials said Monday. A foreign airliner bound for the USA would be more vulnerable to hijacking than American aircraft, which operate under stricter security measures, U.S. officials said. But homeland security officials, noting that security for domestic cargo jets and private aircraft is less stringent than screening for commercial passenger airlines, said they believe a domestic hijacking is also possible. ”There are concerns about a possible hijacking overseas at one of the locations where we think the security may not be at levels that inspire confidence,” said Brian Jenkins, a counterterrorism expert and special adviser to the Rand Corp., a think tank. ”Commercial aviation is very much in the al-Qaeda playbook.” Full Story
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