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Stowaway scorpion on American 777

 
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karatecatman
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:52 pm    Post subject: Stowaway scorpion on American 777 Reply with quote

A stowaway scorpion which bit a passenger delayed an American Airlines 777 flight at the weekend, the airline has said recently.
The passenger, who crushed the tiny assailant, was examined by a nurse when the plane arrived at Pearson airport in Toronto from Miami, but his life was said not to be in any danger.
The passenger told AA agents that he and his brother had been camping in Costa Rica and thought possibly the scorpion had come aboard in his backpack,’’ said airline spokesman John Hotard.
The outbound flight was delyed and the aircraft searched.
The FBI was on standby as it was also thought to be an attempt at creating terror. Rolling Eyes
Animal control officers were called to remove the scorpion.
Other passengers said there was widespread panic, with many passengers jumping up onto their seats and screaming.
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selecta
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ROFL at the terror scare

Quote:
Other passengers said there was widespread panic, with many passengers jumping up onto their seats and screaming.


all i can think of is snakes on a plane Laughing
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HAWK21M
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is there any way to counter this......Terrorists could use something like this.Any means of detection of Poisonious Animals.
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MEL
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the_380
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HAWK21M wrote:
Is there any way to counter this......Terrorists could use something like this.Any means of detection of Poisonious Animals.
regds
MEL

Mel,
The animals wouldn't know whose a terrorist. They can even attack the terrorists and its not possible to train scorpions like dogs Laughing
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HAWK21M
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Terrorist releasing the Creatures during Flight from a sealed container is a possibility.
And most terrorist of today are brainwashed anyway.
There should be means to detect prior to boarding.
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MEL
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karatecatman
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:09 pm    Post subject: Another Scorpion stings airline passenger Reply with quote

More to the scorpion story:

Another Scorpion stings airline passenger
Scorpions are now hot news. After the FBI was on standby for suspected bio-terror, this time another scorpion stung a passenger on United Airlines, David Sullivan on the back of his right leg, just below the knee, then continued up that leg and down the other, he believes, before getting him again in the shin.

It wasn't what he was expecting on a flight from Chicago to Vermont.

Sullivan, a 46-year-old builder from Stowe, Vt., was aboard the UA flight on the second leg of his Jan. 3 trip home from San Francisco. He awoke from a nap shortly before landing and noticed something strange.

"My right leg felt like it was asleep, but that was isolated to one spot, and it felt like it was being jabbed with a sharp piece of plastic or something."

The second sting came after the plane had landed and he and his wife were waiting for their bags at the luggage carousel. Sullivan rolled up his cuff to investigate, and the scorpion fell out.

"It felt like a shock, a tingly thing. Someone screamed, 'It's a scorpion,' " Sullivan recalled. Another passenger stepped on the 2-inch arachnid.

Scorpion stings are rarely fatal, except to babies or older people with health problems, said physician Stephen Leffler at Burlington's Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital.

"We don't see many scorpion bites in Vermont," Leffler said.

****
Flier stung by scorpion gets apology from airline
United Airlines has apologised to Sullivan.
The airline refunded his ticket, offered to pay for his medical bills and gave him a voucher for $500 Wednesday after learning of the bite, United Airlines spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. Officials don't know where the scorpion came from, she said.

The FBI is meanwhile investigating and possibly including this in its case book as miscellaneous. Terror can become biological also it said, as animals can be used to help in an aircraft hijack. Last week's American Airlines incident where passengers were paralysed with fear on hearing about a loose scorpion on the run, the FBI says, is an ideal situation for hijackers to overpower the aircraft.
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karatecatman
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Update on this:

Federal officials are downplaying the possibility the events are related to terrorism. A BBC report quotes an official. "We have no reason to believe there is any connection to any kind of terrorist activity," said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, a division on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The fact that two scorpions made it onto U.S. commercial flights and stung two passengers in the same week is raising eyebrows.

Melendez at the TSA, which was created as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, has said that this is the first time he's ever heard of incidents involving scorpions, let alone two within four days of each other. But he adds the scorpions have not changed the way the agency is handling security.

"As far as TSA is concerned, nothing [different] is being done. We're looking for prohibited items such as knives and bombs and guns," Melendez said. "We don't have a prohibition on God's creatures going on planes."

There's no requirement to report such an occurrence to the FAA unless there's a medical emergency that requires the plane to divert or to declare an emergency and land, or if the animal or bug or whatever causes damage to the aircraft that results in a system malfunction.

American and United have indicated tyhat they will resort to heavy duty fumigation when aircraft are at overnight halts.
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