http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070927.BCBOMB27/TPStory/N ational
Bomb threat shuts down seaplane firm for hours Scare at Harbour Air strands hundreds; Senate is calling for tighter airport security MARK HUME AND JUSTINE HUNTER September 27, 2007 VANCOUVER and VICTORIA -- An early-morning bomb threat to a Vancouver-based seaplane company stranded hundreds of passengers for hours yesterday, the scare coming as the lack of security at small, unregulated airports in Canada is being called into question. The threat grounded 40 flights in a four-hour period at Harbour Air's five B.C. terminals during the peak morning travel period. "What I find is crazy is anybody can pick up the phone and inconvenience a lot of people," Harbour Air's vice-president, Randy Wright, said in an interview. "Someone phoned in and we're supposed to jump. ... We took a hit today." Mr. Wright said his company chose to shut down all its operations for the sake of safety even though the threat targeted only the Vancouver terminal. While dozens of passengers milled around in a parking lot in Victoria yesterday morning, waiting for the harbour-to-harbour shuttle service to Vancouver, a bomb-sniffing dog searched the terminal, baggage and floatplanes. Police also used a rigid inflatable boat to inspect the floatplanes from the water. Meanwhile, rival floatplane operators at a neighbouring dock continued operations. A similar scene was played out at the company's terminals in Nanaimo, Richmond and Langley, as well as Vancouver's Coal Harbour terminals. Just two days earlier, Mr. Wright dismissed calls for tighter security. "There's a lot bigger targets out there, so we don't see the risk," he told the Victoria Times-Colonist. "The bigger bang for your buck would be to hit city buses or B.C. Ferries." Mr. Wright was responding to calls from a Senate committee for tighter security at floatplane terminals and other transportation services such as domestic ferries. Thousands of B.C. Ferries passengers were delayed in July after a bomb threat called in to 911 targeted an outbound vessel. Currently, there are no regulatory requirements to screen passengers and luggage at small terminals such as Harbour Air. The call to Harbour Air's call centre in Vancouver came at 7 a.m. It was the first such call in the company's 25 years of operation, Mr. Wright said. He said the incident doesn't justify increased security. "We carry very little fuel, we are slow. ... It's overblown," he said. Julia Ukrintz, spokeswoman for Transport Canada, confirmed that bomb threats against small plane operators are extremely rare. Her department is reviewing current regulations that exclude Canada's smallest airports from security screening. Currently, 89 of Canada's largest airports are regulated for security screening of passengers and their luggage. Ms. Ukrintz said the current regulations cover more than 99 per cent of Canadian air travel, but the review could change that. "This process will look at all Canadian airports from the smallest to the largest, including water airports," she said. Vancouver police are investigating the incident. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
