Combustible Liquids Plagued China Flights
SHANGHAI -- Chinese airline passengers have already seen combustible liquids used as weapons.
On May 7, 2002, a China Northern Airlines flight crashed, killing all 112 aboard. Crash investigators concluded that a 37-year-old passenger set a fire that sent the plane plunging toward the Yellow Sea, the official Xinhua news agency reported. According to subsequent reports in China's state-run media, the passenger had purchased seven air-travel insurance policies valued at $170,000 and was suspected of igniting a fire on the MD-82 plane with a bottle of gasoline or some other flammable liquid.
Less than a year later, on Feb. 2, 2003, flammable liquid was used in a hijacking attempt. An unemployed 39-year-old passenger doused the cabin of Air China flight CA1505 with fuel from a soft-drink can, Xinhua reported. He then demanded the flight, from Beijing to Fuzhou, be diverted to Taiwan, Xinhua reported. He was subdued by others on board, and the plane landed safely at its planned destination.
Following the 2003 incident, Chinese aviation officials banned passengers from checking in with containers of liquid that they intended to carry on board. At first, the rules were strictly enforced at airport-security checks, at times so firmly that sales of duty-free items, like liquor, were left to be purchased upon arrival at the final destination. Yet, more recently, enforcement has become uneven. Security officials are still supposed to confiscate bottles of wine and other alcohol that passengers try to bring on their carry-on luggage, but passengers have been known to bring hot coffee and bottled water through check-in.
On Friday, following the trans-Atlantic scare, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China stepped up the protective efforts. At Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, for example, signs were posted that said no liquid aside from goods purchased after the airport-security check, like duty-free liquor, could be taken aboard outbound flights. The only exceptions were for baby formula and certain medicines.
易燃液体威胁中国航班安全
中国曾出现过飞机乘客将易燃液体用作炸弹的事例。
2002年5月7日，中国北方航空公司(China Northern Airlines)一架客机坠毁，机上112名乘客全部身亡。据官方的新华社报导，调查人员得出的结论是，一名37岁的乘客点火导致这架客机坠入了黄海。中国官方媒体随后的报导称，这名乘客此前购买了7份航空意外险，保额总计高达17万美元，据怀疑他在这架MD-82飞机上点燃了一瓶汽油或其他易燃液体。
此后不到1年，在2003年2月2日，又有人将易燃液体用于劫机。新华社报导，一名39岁的失业人员在中国国际航空公司(Air China)的CA1505航班上将一个饮料罐内装著的燃料撒在机舱内。他随后要求这架从北京飞往福州的飞机改道飞往台湾。这名劫机者后来被机上人员制服，这架飞机也在福州安全著陆。
在2003年的这起事件后，航空部门开始禁止乘客携带液体物质登机。起初，在乘客通过机场安检通道时这一规定执行得很严格，有时乘客只能在到达最终飞行目的地后才能购买酒等免税商品。不过这一规定的执行力度最近在有些地方有所放松。虽然安检人员仍有可能没收飞机乘客随身携带的瓶装葡萄酒或其他酒类，但据悉有些携带热咖啡和瓶装水的乘客也顺利通过了安检口。
上周五，当有人试图在跨大西洋航班上实施恐怖行动的消息被报导后，中国民用航空总局(General Administration of Civil Aviation of China)加强了飞行安检措施。例如上海的浦东国际机场就贴出告示说，除乘客在通过机场的安全检查后购买的免税酒等物品外，禁止乘客携带任何液体登上出港航班。只有婴儿食品和某些药品可以例外。
James T. Areddy
