Twenty years ago, British authorities uncovered a terror plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto transatlantic flights and take down multiple passenger planes bound for the United States. A recent UK documentary highlighted this story and includes an interview with our Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Michael Chertoff. Published by ITV News, the show details how intelligence and law enforcement foiled the biggest planned attack on aircraft since 9/11.
British citizen and terrorist Rashid Rauf directed the plot from Pakistan and plans came together in an ordinary flat in East London. Extremist Abdulla Ahmed Ali and a small group of young British men planned to use a hydrogen peroxide liquid explosive concealed as a sports drink and detonated with a household battery. Leveraging surveillance and other techniques, British intelligence agents from MI5 and law enforcement watched the preparations unfold. They moved in to make arrests as the planners prepared to execute.
Tension increased in the days leading up to the arrests as the British wanted to be sure that they had enough evidence for a solid case. As Secretary Chertoff, described in the documentary, “it was very stressful weighing what is likely to be more dangerous, moving too quickly or moving too slowly.”
Multiple members of The Chertoff Group team served at DHS and TSA during this volatile time. We widen the aperture to share more US perspective.
Close Hold Intelligence
In the days leading up to the arrests, UK officials alerted a small circle of people in the US government because a leak could have compromised the entire operation. At DHS, this included Secretary Chertoff and Chief of Intelligence & Analysis Charlie Allen.
A New SOP Overnight
On the evening of August 9, 2006. British authorities were moving to arrest the suspects. Late that night, officials at TSA called the CEOs of the airlines and airports, describing the 100% liquids ban for carry-on luggage, to be rolled out nationwide within a matter of hours.
Federal security directors, the TSA officials responsible for security at 450 US airports, called in extra staff and positioned waste bins at every checkpoint. Signs were made to help explain the change to passengers. At some airports, staff drove to the nearest Kinko’s to print signs and at others, employees simply made their own. By 2:00 a.m., the rapid response moved from headquarters in Washington D.C. to the hands of security officers staffing the checkpoints and ready to face the traveling public.
Orlando and Checkpoints Nationwide
Lee Kair, who is now principal of Transportation & Innovation at The Chertoff Group, served in 2006 as Federal Security Director at Orlando International Airport where he and his team carried out the ban.
Interestingly, earlier that year Kair had built training for TSA officers on improvised explosive devices. That training included a module on liquids. The government had long suspected liquid explosives were a theoretical risk.
“The overnight changes to screening procedures at an airport the size of Orlando were no small undertaking. All agencies, TSA, airport, airlines and law enforcement pulled together to ensure passengers were safely processed and on their flights without delay,” said Lee Kair.
Working through the night of August 9, the ban went into effect at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. Despite passenger frustration, that day every scheduled flight in the United States took off, with no cancellations.
From a Ban to a Sustainable Regime
A total liquid ban solved the immediate problem of stopping the potential for additional terror cells however, it created new strain. Airport checked baggage systems were pushed to the limits with increased luggage volume.
In the following weeks, DHS and TSA turned to the national laboratories to determine a risk management solution that would allow some liquids back in carry-ons. Research revealed the hydrogen peroxide mixture succeeded about one in three times in a lab environment. It was corrosive enough to burn skin and pungent enough to draw attention. Mixing it in a lab is one thing. Mixing it midflight, in a lavatory, by combining small containers is quite another.
That research shaped what became known as 3-1-1: three ounces per container, all containers in a clear single one-quart bag, one bag per traveler. The new regime reduced the risk to an acceptable level and helped normalize operations.
TSA announced 3-1-1 to the public on September 26, 2006, about seven weeks after that first sleepless night. The UK, European Union and Canada rolled out a similar protocol using metric measurements (100 ml). This baseline has stayed in place for nearly 20 years and is just beginning to be phased out due to technology advancements.
Rashid Rauf, the alleged mastermind who directed the plot from Pakistan, never stood trial for the plot. American intelligence officials believe a U.S. drone strike killed him in November 2008. Ten men in Britain were convicted for their roles in the plot.
Read more about the documentary here.
This blog includes details from Permanent Emergency, a book about aviation security in the post 9/11 era written by former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley.
