After a four-hour meeting in Brussels, the United States and the European Union decided not to prohibit travelers from using electronic devices, such as Apple iPads and MacBooks, in the cabin during flights from Europe.
According to the BBC, the meeting was held to discuss threats to aviation. EU officials requested the meeting after American authorities shared new information on explosives, specifically regarding laptop parts.
Before the meeting, the U.S. was contemplating a ban on phones and tablets. It would specifically apply to passengers flying from eight countries: Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
American officials were concerned that converted laptops, among other devices, could be used for bombings. In a statement released in March, the Department of Homeland Security said, “disseminated propaganda from various terrorist groups is encouraging attacks on aviation, to include tactics to circumvent aviation security.”
Neither American nor E.U. officials have revealed a specific threat to the public. Nonetheless, they have given three examples of attacks that recently caused alarm. In 2015, a bomb was possibly used to drown an Egyptian aircraft, while, in 2016, bombers attacked airports in Brussels and Istanbul.
A bomber also attempted to drown a Somalia aircraft in 2016. According to Jim Termini, owner of airport security company Redline, “the device functioned prematurely and the guy carrying it was ejected from the plane rather violently. But it did demonstrate that this method of operation in concealing an improvised explosive device within a large electrical device is a valid way of attempting to smuggle a threat item onboard an aircraft.”
Termini further explained that laptop batteries could be moved around, making space for small explosive devices. “If a device is opened and turned on, you can prove functionality while it is still a valid IED (improvised explosive device,) and the problem with these devices is that they are incredibly difficult to identify with X-ray technology.”
Because of these bomb threats, in March the United Kingdom imposed a ban on electronics for flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. This ban has affected 14 airlines, including British Airways, Easyjet and Monarch.
The ban stated that items bigger than 6.3 inches long, 3.6 inches wide or .6 inches deep were not allowed in the airplane cabin. While large phones like the iPhone 7 Plus are smaller than these parameters and thus could be used in the cabin, larger electronics, such as laptops, could not be used.
Passengers subject to the ban, as well as officials required to enforce it, questioned if putting these electronic items in the hold baggage truly decreased bomb threats. However, according to Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, “Inside the cabin, the terrorist, or duped passenger, can at least be guaranteed a seat next to the fuselage, improving the chances of destroying the aircraft.
Sally Leivesley, a risk management expert, agreed with Baum, stating that “a very small device next to the skin of an aircraft, in the cabin, can cause massive depressurization – it’s certain death for everyone on board.”
Nonetheless, as stated by officials, the United States and the European Union are now considering other methods of preventing airplane bombings. The two parties failed to explain their reasons for withholding the ban.
If a ban on American-European flights were to be instilled in the future, it could make the flights less dangerous. The lithium-ion batteries within devices like MacBooks are known to be highly flammable. In the possibility that a fire occurs, whether from a bomb or a plane malfunction, the flight crew would have a difficult time putting out the fire, causing extensive and lethal damage.
However, a ban similar to that of the U.K. could add to the chaos and stress of flying across the Atlantic. Numerous people travel, for both business and tourism, between the U.S. and Europe every day. Checking their electronics would most likely hinder already slow security checks at airports like Heathrow, Schiphol, and Tegel. It would also inconvenience fliers who need their laptops or other electronic devices to do work or at least be entertained, during their multiple hour flights.
European traffic ultimately seems to be too large to impose the ban, and, as of now, it is not considered to be a direct threat to the U.S.
