Friday, August 18, 2006

Feasibility of the TATP airline bombs

The Register takes a look at the science of TATP bombs and the feasibility of those explosives taking down an airliner. The science seems solid, except this part:

While it's true that a slapdash concoction will explode, it's unlikely to do more than blow out a few windows. At best, an infidel or two might be killed by the blast, and one or two others by flying debris as the cabin suddenly depressurizes, but that's about all you're likely to manage under the most favorable conditions possible.

Ahhh. They show a fine understanding of TATP, but a lesser understanding of explosives on an airliner. Just a couple of windows? In a pressurized airliner at cruising altitude, that's darn near a death sentence. Remember Pan Am 103? All it took was a 20 inch hole at 31,000 feet to tear the plane apart.

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