Feroze From India, joined Dec 2004, 794 posts, RR: 3 Posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 14138 times:
British Airways has been advised that three of its Boeing 767 short haul aircraft have been identified by the UK government as part of the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
The airline was contacted last night (Tuesday, November 28) by the government. It has taken the three B767s out of service to enable forensic examination to be carried out.
The initial results of the forensic tests, which was confirmed late this afternoon, has shown very low traces of a radioactive substance onboard two of the three aircraft.
British Airways has been advised that this investigation is confined solely to these three B767 aircraft, which will remain out of service until further notice.
British Airways understands that from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low.
The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have travelled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe.
The airline has published the flights affected on its website, www.ba.com, and customers on these flights who wish to receive further advice are advised to telephone NHS Direct on 0845 4647. Only customers who have travelled on these specific flights are asked to telephone NHS Direct.
Jamesbuk From United Kingdom, joined May 2005, 3968 posts, RR: 5 Reply 5, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13913 times:
Its coming from ITV
"BA grounds jets linked to Litvinenko inquiry
6.51, Wed Nov 29 2006
Radioactive material has been found on two British Airways passenger jets by scientists investigating the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
BA said it had grounded three Boeing 767 short haul aircraft involved in the probe after being contacted by Government officials.
The airline stressed the risk to passengers who had travelled on the planes was low.
The company said: "British Airways has been advised that three of its Boeing 767 short haul aircraft have been identified by the UK government as part of the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
"The airline was contacted last night by the Government. It has taken the three B767s out of service to enable forensic examination to be carried out."
Gordonroxburgh From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2000, 550 posts, RR: 21 Reply 6, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13915 times:
The following British Airways’ flights are involved.
London Heathrow to Moscow/Moscow to London Heathrow
November 3, BA874 and BA875
November 7, BA872 and BA873
November 8, BA874 and BA875
November 9, BA872 and BA873
November 14, BA872 and BA873
November 15, BA874 and BA875
November 17, BA874 and BA875
November 18, BA874 and BA875
November 20, BA872 and BA873
London Heathrow to Barcelona/Barcelona to London Heathrow
November 4, BA478 and BA479
November 16, BA478 and BA479
November 19, BA478 and BA479
November 22, BA478 and BA479
November 23, BA478 and BA479
November 24, BA478 and BA479
London Heathrow to Dusseldorf/Dusseldorf to London Heathrow
November 6, BA936 and BA937
November 18, BA936 and BA937
November 25, BA936 and BA937
London Heathrow to Athens
November 6, BA632 and BA633
November 7, BA634
November 9, BA634
November 10, BA632
November 14, BA634
November 20, BA634
November 21, BA632
November 25, BA632
Athens to London Heathrow
November 8, BA631
November 10, BA631
November 10, BA633
November 15, BA631
November 21, BA631
November 21, BA633
November 25, BA633
London Heathrow to Larnaca/Larnaca to London Heathrow
November 11, BA662 and BA663
November 12, BA662 and BA663
November 13, BA662 and BA663
November 26, BA662 and BA663
London Heathrow to Stockholm/Stockholm to London Heathrow
November 19, BA780 and BA781
November 22, BA780 and BA781
November 23, BA780 and BA781
November 24, BA780 and BA781
London Heathrow to Vienna/Vienna to London Heathrow
November 28, BA846 and BA847
StarGoldLHR From Heard and McDonald Islands, joined Feb 2004, 1529 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13833 times:
The BBC reported that 2 planes are currently at LHR, 1 is at Domodevo in Moscow.
The 2 UK aircraft have tested positive.
The 767's have flown to Moscow, Athens, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Larnaca and Stockholm.
This means it must be very easy to identify who did it... Given the prime person to be incontact with the radiation (besides Litvinenko), Mario who went to Rome, was not on one of these aircraft... as they didnt go there.
Whats the odds of passengers flying out on one A/c would fly back on the other... and the seat location of the radiation on both aircrafts...
I would imagine this story will blow open soon
So far in 2008 45 flights and Gold already. JFK, IAD, LGA, SIN, HKG, NRT, AKL, PPT, LAX still to book ! Home Airport LCY
Poitin From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13737 times:
Quoting StarGoldLHR (Reply 8):
This means it must be very easy to identify who did it... Given the prime person to be incontact with the radiation (besides Litvinenko), Mario who went to Rome, was not on one of these aircraft... as they didnt go there.
Whats the odds of passengers flying out on one A/c would fly back on the other... and the seat location of the radiation on both aircrafts...
I would imagine this story will blow open soon
I heard of "smoking guns" before but this is even better.
FlyLondon From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2004, 376 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13738 times:
Quoting StarGoldLHR (Reply 8): This means it must be very easy to identify who did it... Given the prime person to be incontact with the radiation (besides Litvinenko), Mario who went to Rome, was not on one of these aircraft... as they didnt go there.
Whats the odds of passengers flying out on one A/c would fly back on the other... and the seat location of the radiation on both aircrafts...
I would imagine this story will blow open soon
ITV who broke the story noted the most frequent destination for all the planes was Moscow, with 24 visits. The pressure on the Russian government will only increase.
Gordonroxburgh From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2000, 550 posts, RR: 21 Reply 14, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13611 times:
RichardPrice From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13500 times:
Quoting Poitin (Reply 11): I heard of "smoking guns" before but this is even better.
Not really as conclusive as you think - you can buy Polonium-210 sources without a license for as little as $69.00 a throw and with the level of forensics tody, you only need to leave behind a few particles for it to register.
Also BA are sayings 'very small traces of a radioactive substance' - not out and out Polonium. Unless they confirm its Polonium-210, its highly likely to be a wild goose chase with a number of possible reasons.
Longhaulheavy From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 402 posts, RR: 2 Reply 16, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13391 times:
It appears that the assassin skipped class on the day they were taught about discreteness. Sheesh!
PolymerPlane From United States of America, joined May 2006, 991 posts, RR: 3 Reply 18, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 13300 times:
Wow small traces of radioactive materials. Is this something like naturally occurring radioactive calcium? I really smell media sensationalism. Traces of radioactive materials are everywhere, and is probably harmless. What kills is high dose of radioactive emission, not traces. The fact is that you can get more radiation by working as a pilot than working in nuclear reactor.
Way to scare people off. US and UK governments will probably ask money to install radioactive detector in every airport in the world, just to remind people of threats.
Does anybody know what BA are doing whilst these aircraft are out of service? Are they cancelling flights or do they have enough other aircraft to operate the flights?
Next flights: LGW-LBA-LGW, LHR-SIN-SYD, SYD-BKK-LHR, LGW-GRO, GRO-CIA, CIA-MAD, MAD-LGW
Feroze From India, joined Dec 2004, 794 posts, RR: 3 Reply 20, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days ago) and read 13237 times:
Quoting Sam1987 (Reply 22): Does anybody know what BA are doing whilst these aircraft are out of service? Are they cancelling flights or do they have enough other aircraft to operate the flights?
Just what I was thinking.
Also, if the assassin(s) are proved to be connected to the Russian Government, why weren't they flying Aeroflot?
Sphealey From United States of America, joined May 2005, 361 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days ago) and read 13210 times:
I just wonder what the results would be if you ran high-sensitivity radiation detectors through any airliner that had been in service for a while. Particularly any that have carried people who have been near the Chernobyl zone within a few days of travelling, not to mention the odd absent-minded lab tech who sticks a source in his pocket or walks through a potentially contaminated zone and doesn't clean his shoes on the sticky pad.
My guess (just a guess) is that trivial, non-dangerous contamination is more common on transit vehicles than we like to think.
RichardPrice From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 23, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days ago) and read 13795 times:
Quoting Sphealey (Reply 24): I just wonder what the results would be if you ran high-sensitivity radiation detectors through any airliner that had been in service for a while. Particularly any that have carried people who have been near the Chernobyl zone within a few days of travelling, not to mention the odd absent-minded lab tech who sticks a source in his pocket or walks through a potentially contaminated zone and doesn't clean his shoes on the sticky pad.
Dont even need any of those situations - develop your own photography film as a hobby? You may have a Polonium-210 source already. See my links above.
BA0284 From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2005, 299 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (6 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days ago) and read 13676 times:
BA.com are adding more and more 'affected' flights all the time, keep checking it! They seem to be taking the records back to October 25th at the moment, quite some time ago.
BA0284
25 Gatorman96: Is there a possibility that these small traces of radioactivity have absolutly no connection to the assassination, and people are just overracting?
26 Stirling: I don't mean to vector this topic off into something else, But. I had NO IDEA that BA still operated the 767 on that many intra-European flights. And
27 AirbusA346: I wonder if ITV asked permission to use the two photos? Tom.
28 SK A340: www.aftonbladet.se shows an Airbus narrow-body instead of a Boeing wide-body... /Micke
29 Gearup: Interesting! Isn't it an Alpha particle emitter? if so it should be relatively harmless unless ingested. I would doubt that any of BA's pax are/were
30 EFHK: "Your flight has been cancelled due to possible radioactivity in the plane." What next? "Your flight has been cancelled due to a possible alien attack
31 TRVYYZ: Hope she's ok. We had too many threads on her already
32 RIXrat: For those of you that think that journalists have nothing better to do than to take aircraft out of service, I would like to remind you that it was no
33 Feroze: The authorities have been testing premises all over London for radiation, including the Itsu Sushi restaurant on Piccadilly. At the last count 8 peop
35 B741: This post is a good education in flight operations and record keeping. It's not too often you see published company records of past flights.
36 Jamesbuk: Ya know I have a feeling they dont cover "Radioactive material found on aircraft" Rgds --James--
37 Gatorman96: RIXrat You are right, but sometimes people can overreact, such as a cell phone ringing on a plane and forcing it to divert to the nearest airport beac
38 Dtwclipper: The problem for BA is not just the two or three planes taken out of service, but the public reaction to the incident. How many thousands of people wi
39 Poitin: You got that, it is only an Alpha Particle emitter, which must be ingested, so wash your hands and you'll be ok. Just don't drink any glow-in-the-dar
40 RIXrat: I wonder if the assassin went business or economy? OK, serious question. Let's suppose he/she had it in a vial and didn't spill a grain anywhere, woul
41 Dtwclipper: CNN just reported that the A/C in question made at least two trips to North America now. One to PHL and YVR, I have yet to see any confirmation of thi
42 Poitin: Alpha radiation is trival to sheild --thick cardboard is all it would take. Placed inside of a metal container, say a pill vial, it would be all but
43 BAxMAN: I'm not sure what a 767 with shorthaul Club Europe configuration would be doing in, of all places, YVR?
44 Sphealey: > OK, serious question. Let's suppose he/she had > it in a vial and didn't spill a grain anywhere, would > it still detect radiation after such a time
45 Feroze: Nothing about this on the BA website....yet. But CNN is the one to trust!
46 Feroze: Wasn't the "dusking" that was undertaken applied to all the 767s? I thought they all now had the same interior and could fly both short and long-haul
47 Pacifique75: I suppose they have a different 767 configuration for the intercontinental flights!! And YVR is operated with 747 according to timetable...
48 Pacifique75: Yes, spoke to a friend who flies for BA... She confirms 2 types of 767 configiguration - european and longhaul!
49 A340600: Wierd, I flew in and out of Barcelona those days with BA, but on the Gatwick flights. It's not even an act of terrorism in that the poison was meant
50 Kiramakora: Wow. Is there need to deviate so much from the topic at hand? James, I was thinking exactly that . I dont think these 767s were insured against radio
51 RTFM: Correct - CNN are talking cobblers.... All the destinations these a/c served are on BA's website. Surely some journo in CNN could have looked it up a
52 Lufthansa: This whole thing is starting to sound more and more like something from a james bond movie. I saw a picture in the newspaper 2 days ago of the Japanes
53 Sabena332: A friend and me talked on the phone earlier tonight, of course we also talked about the grounded BA planes and the story behind it, both of us said s
54 Glideslope: Thanks for the info. I thought things seemed to be moving very quickly. This will be big by next week.
55 BuyantUkhaa: According to my data (looked it up in some old books) Po-210 has a half-life of 140 days (emitting at 5,298 MeV) but it emits some gamma radiation to
56 LTBEWR: As to the aircraft themselves, 3 groups of questions come up: 1) How long will they be out of service? Perhaps for at least 140 days of the half-life
57 Ukair: I hope Putin is going to be getting his cheque book out to compensate all these companies who have lost business and not least Litvinenko's family.[Ed
58 Panman: Just to put a dampener on things. If the aircraft were in the hangar recently undergoing checks that included any NDT inspections then the small trace
59 Hamster: My question is how do you connect the passenger to the radioactivity? I mean, first off, the pax was probably flying on an assumed name. Also from the
60 Lufthansa: Not a chance in hell. doing so is admitting responsiblity. Something the kremlin isn't about to do.
61 Gammagirl: "Very interesting, Mr Bond" Trying to get my head around this, can only envisage three scenarios so far: 1- Unknown person carries Poloniom source ont
62 Speedbirdie: Excellent. It appears that I was on BNWB last week... I recieved a memo saying I shall be contacted shortly by a memeber of my management advising me
63 TristarSteve: The technical records for airliners can show you all the flights that an aircraft has EVER made. All the BA B767 are identical technically. However s
64 BCAL: More fool these people would be if they cancel or rebook on other carriers, as they might as well lock themselves at home to stay away from potential
65 VC-10: I expect most of you are too young to know but when atmospheric nuclear tests were carried out in the 1950's & 60's airliners were regularly checked f
66 BCAL: Correct me if I am wrong, but I recall reading somewhere recently that the crews who are regularly rostered on Polar flights are checked for possible
67 Haggis79: cant imagine they are checked for contamination.... cosmic radiation consists of electromagnetic radiation, not particles.... as such it doesn't leav
68 Vs773er: Woah, now i'm glad I went LH that day!
69 ComeAndGo: That's contamination from sun radiation. The atmosphere is thinner at the poles and radiation levels at flight altitude are higher.
71 CSDBA: Hey I think the media are blowing this up a little right now. Yes the three aircraft are grounded lets wait and see what happens next. I work for Brit
72 Jonty: lol, indeed! If it was the KGB they have made a right pigs ear out of this! If they'd killed him quickly then maybe it could have been swept under th
73 Sam1987: I just looked on LHR departures on the BA website, and not a single flight has been cancelled this morning. How do BA manage to keep to schedule when
74 Feroze: From http://www1.airliners.net/discussion...eral_aviation/read.main/3122243/#8 Speedbirdegjj From United Kingdom (England), joined Nov 2003, 263 post
75 SapphireLHR: Hats off to BA by at least being fully open over the well fare of all concerned. Not only passengers but at BA request we have been working all night
76 BAe146QT: You've seen Close Encounters, haven't you..?
77 Foxy: No credible source yet but judging from BBC pictures and another post on this forum it would seem a Transaero 737 is also being treated in the same ma
78 F22KA: I would not be surprised to find out that "W" is also behind this one.
79 Speedbirdie: er no.. Anyway im not getting my knickers in a twist over this. If it was that serious, we would have been grounded.
80 Feroze: ITV News are now reporting that 5 aircraft are now undergoing forensic examination: http://www.itv.com/news/index_15936c43a85e64b74eb1efe0fd2fe837.htm
84 BAe146QT: That's kind of what I was suggesting. You ruined my buildup, you swine.
85 Feroze: BA passengers 'not getting help' Some 33,000 passengers travelled on the affected planes Travellers on British Airways flights affected by a radiation
86 Wingedarrow: How did they manage to find out if the planes were contaminated? Because they had been flying for three weeks without fuel!!!
87 Andz: Sky News is reporting that the 3 aircraft have been cleared to resume service.
88 Trekster: All us agents can do is check if they were on the flight and tell them to go to the docs if they got any symptoms or if concerned Were not medically
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