Sun, Jan 04, 2004
If At Once You Don't Succeed, Fly, Fly Again
After being canceled for two days in a row, British Airways
Flight 223 from Heathrow to Dulles took off Saturday, as security
officials in both Britain and the US said they were satisfied it
was safe to fly.
"The Department for Transport has confirmed to us that they are
satisfied that it is safe for the aircraft to go," said an airline
spokeswoman, on customary condition of anonymity. "Safety and
security is our absolute priority and would not be compromised. We
would not operate any flight unless we were satisfied it was safe
to do so."
BA 223 has been targeted, if not by terrorists, at least by
American and British security agencies. The flight was escorted by
F-16s as it neared Washington on Wednesday. It was cancelled
altogether Thursday and Friday.
While the Heathrow-Washington flight appeared to be on track for
a scheduled arrival Saturday, three other BA flights were
cancelled. One was destined from London to New York City. Another,
Flight BA263, was supposed to travel from London to Riyadh's King
Khalid Airport Saturday. The aircraft's return flight, BA262, was
also cancelled. It was to have left Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
There's no indication yet whether BA's flights to Riyadh would
resume on Monday.
The BA cancellations and delays are part of a much bigger
security picture. Worried that terrorists would use foreign flights
over the holidays to attack targets worldwide, the Bush
administration negotiated a deal with EU members to share passenger
lists for overseas flights. That, in turn, led to six cases of
mistaken identity aboard Air France flights between Paris and Los
Angeles. Those flights were either cancelled, delayed or, in one
case, diverted to a landing in St. Johns, Newfoundland after
officials discovered unaccompanied luggage aboard.
Two AeroMexico flights to LA were also grounded as security
measures.
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