Transatlantic airliner liquid-bomb plot
On 10 August 2006 British police announced they had disrupted a plot to blow up airliners in mid-flight. The police operation was called Operation Overt. The BBC reported that MI5 secretly recorded two of the men making devices from drink bottles at a flat in Walthamstow, east London. The arrests led to tight limits on liquids in hand luggage, which the BBC said in 2009 were still in place.
On 7 September 2009 a Woolwich Crown Court jury convicted Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Tanvir Hussain and Assad Sarwar of conspiring to set off bombs disguised as drinks on transatlantic flights. The jury heard that Ali had identified seven flights from Heathrow to North America. On 14 September 2009 Mr Justice Henriques jailed all three for life, with minimum terms of 40 years for Ali, 36 for Sarwar and 32 for Hussain. He called it "the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction." Umar Islam, convicted of conspiracy to murder, received a minimum of 22 years.
Australian angle: on 10 August 2006 DFAT issued updated travel advice warning Australians in the United Kingdom to be careful. The Age reported that Melbourne Airport's four daily US flights adopted the new US rules: liquids removed from hand luggage and all shoes X-rayed. From 31 March 2007 Australia required liquids, aerosols and gels carried onto international flights to be in containers under 100ml in a clear plastic bag. The ABC reported that the change followed "last year's foiled plan".
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