Early Thoughts on That Plane Incident

Hmmm...

Name not on watch list. Check.

Hard to see how an incendiary powder or liquid doesn't have nitrogen in it, the target of those swipes and explosive-sniffing dogs. Check.

So let's do more of what didn't work.

A bit more seriously, the perpetrator probably got on the plane at Lagos, and security outside the United States and Europe is much less stringent. Still, one might have expected a walk-through with an explosive-sniffing dog when the plane was on the ground in Amsterdam.

On the perpetrator's side of things, one more example that it's harder than one might think to make this explosive stuff work.

Update: So here's the last-threat response:

“Among other things,” the statement in Air Canada’s Web site read, “during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps.”

Um, if I read the accounts right, he was sitting down. And I always put my backpack (only carry one item anyway) under the seat in front of me so that I can get to my magazines and food. So what exactly is this a response to.

(...maybe no stuff under the seat in front of you? And I can't say I'm unhappy that the guys with the foldover bags and a big briefcase will be limited to one or the other.)