AUSTRALIA. A terrorism expert has called for all bottles including duty free alcohol to be banned from airplanes because they could be used as fire bombs and other weapons.
Australian National University’s Professor Clive Williams told a government inquiry into aviation security that both glass and plastic bottles could be turned into weapons.
“I don’t think passengers should be permitted to carry bottles”¦ containing liquid onto aircraft (and) we should ban duty free bottles,” said Williams, who heads the university’s terrorism studies. “Broken bottles make very good weapons.”
He said bottles of alcohol could be lit and used like Molotov cocktails.
The Flight Attendants Association of Australia agreed with the idea of a bottle ban but foresaw practical problems. “Not selling duty-free to passengers on departure would be a difficult step to implement,” association spokesman Guy Maclean told the inquiry.
Maclean instead called for screening bottles taken onboard to identify their contents.
Australia has upgraded its security on airplanes and at airports, tourist sites and government buildings since the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the United States.
This latest call for duty free bottles to be banned inflight is just one of many over the years that have gained little credence. The latest is unlikely to be any different.
