Explosive device discovered on cargo plane at East Midlands Airport

A bomb was discovered at East Midlands Airport in the hold of a cargo plane bound for America in the early hours of Friday morning. The device was disguised as a computer printer cartridge, which made it difficult to detect. The bomb had already travelled on a passenger plane before it was transferred to the cargo plane.

The incident is reminiscent of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, though thankfully the bomb found on Friday didn't explode. An identical device was also intercepted in Dubai, also before it was allowed to detonate.

Due to the nature of the devices, they would have been difficult to detect using x-ray screening because parts of the bomb would have looked like printer components.

It's possible that the bomb found at East Midlands Airport could have exploded whilst it was flown over Britain, but there's no way of knowing for sure. The terrorists that built the bomb installed a device that enabled them to detonate it at a time of their choosing. The devices were sent by UPS, enabling the terrorists to track their whereabouts. The bomb found at East Midlands Airport was addressed to a synagogue in Chicago.

A cordon was set up at East Midlands Airport after the discovery of the bomb. President Barrack Obama made a statement about the cargo plane bombs on the day of the incident, but it wasn't until Saturday evening that Prime Minister David Cameron made his statement.

Ministers will be discussing the need for tougher cargo checks, which currently aren't as intense as those carried out on passengers and their baggage. Concerns were raised when the printer cartridge had to be examined twice at East Midlands Airport before the bomb was discovered.

When the September 11 attacks occurred, many people chose not to fly for some time afterwards. As the recent threat at East Midlands Airport threatened a cargo plane, it is hope that this latest incident will not put people off flying.

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