RAF Jets Escort Pakistan Airways Jet Into London.

originally posted by: ImagewerxStansted on the other hand is about the most difficult civil airport in the UK to go spotting at...

Stanstead's primary defence against terrorism is that terrorists can't find it. Nor can most people, for that matter.

These young ladies express my thoughts on the matter rather well:

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter
a reply to: alldaylong

Reports coming in saying the disturbace caused by a passenger who was driven crazy by the stench of farting on board.

Makes you wonder what they served on board for dinner. Anyway, in close quarters, anything could set off an unstable person. That's why I crank up the overhead air before I cut one loose. It's just common courtesy

originally posted by: Pyle

originally posted by: CulturalResilience
Disruptive passengers on commercial airlines don't automatically warrant fighter escorts. Also the diversion and the subsequent ground positioning of the flight at Stanstead might suggest that initial reports indicated a higher threat level than what is normally termed as disruptive passenger behaviour

The precautions taken in this instance seem to indicate that he true nature of the situation was not properly established until after an alert level call had been received.

A combative passenger will very much get the Air Forces of the world in the air after 9/11.

The receipt of a Squak Code alert or an unresponsive approaching flight would automatically warrant an automatic fighter jet response. As I said it seems that, in the circumstances of this particular incident,that the initial threat may have been suspected of being more serious than a disruptive passenger initially.

originally posted by: Imagewerx

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
a reply to: neo96

So it's standard SOP to scramble jets to escort passenger airliners over just a disruptive passenger?

Happens often.

Standstead is set up to receive these kinds of planes where there has been some kind of disruption I think i am correct in saying Glasgow Gatwick is also set up for it. Each incident is risk assessed depending on the situation, its not uncommon for the police to be arresting someone off a flight for being "disruptive". I would guess that given the origin of this flight they risk assessed that a fighter escort would be appropriate.

In this case it seems to have just been some guy going nuts on the plane and not a attempted hijacking or terrorist attack.

Gatwick certainly isn't set up for it.There are no truly remote parts of it that are distant enough from public roads,residential areas or farms to isolate any potential threats without closing off those busy public roads.Stansted on the other hand is about the most difficult civil airport in the UK to go spotting at,it'd be easier to get a good view of what's happening at Groom Lake!

I didnt say they were good airports....

Its just that they are supposed to be used for flights like this they must have some kind of infrastructure set up to allow the airport to cope with these kind of incidents.

If your interested the old base at RAF Macherhansish was actually also designated as a emergancy landing site for the space shuttle.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I didnt say they were good airports....

Its just that they are supposed to be used for flights like this they must have some kind of infrastructure set up to allow the airport to cope with these kind of incidents.

If your interested the old base at RAF Macherhansish was actually also designated as a emergancy landing site for the space shuttle.

The security at Gatwick really is rubbish.There are still long lengths of perimeter fence without any sort of surveillance watching them,so easy enough to get in or out unobserved if you have insider (or local) knowledge.

I think Machrihanish was chosen not because of it's isolation,but because at one time IIRC it had the longest runway anywhere in the UK.If I had to name a suitably remote airfield in the south of the UK,it'd have to be Manston in Kent which is already designated as a master diversion airfield.Along with Lyneham and a few others I can't think of now,they were the only ones capable at the time (1970s) of putting down a foam blanket for those unexpected gear up landings.