"Man upgraded after threat to 'destroy' airport"

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Man flew after threat
Australia - The Daily Telegraph


A MAN left a note in a Qantas lounge threatening to "destroy" Sydney
Airport if he was allowed on his flight - but was still allowed to fly
out of the country.

Federal and state authorities are furious with the airline for letting
the man leave unchallenged. 

The passenger allegedly wrote the note shortly before he boarded a
flight to Wellington last Wednesday. 

The letter - declaring he be stopped or the "wrath of the Almighty"
would be brought down - was found near a toilet in Terminal 3. 

Despite requests by police to hold the in-transit passenger until
officers arrived, he was upgraded by Qantas and left Australia that
evening. 

Qantas claimed he was a frequent flyer and well known to staff, who
deemed the threat unlikely and believed that he had mental issues. 

"It seems they were more interested in protecting their corporate image
than informing authorities," one counter-terrorist agent said yesterday.


"There have been informal discussions with the airline involved about
the timeliness of their advice and assurances it shouldn't occur again,"
a police spokesman said. He added there could be mental health aspects
to the case. 

A spokeswoman for Qantas said the airline did not comment on security
issues but believed last Wednesday's incident "was dealt with in an
appropriate way and no threat was posed to Qantas or its passengers at
any time". 

* POLICE and ASIO officers have told superiors a June 30 deadline to
conclude background security checks on airport workers nationwide is now
"not achievable". 

A massive security review began last year after it was revealed some
airport workers had lied about criminal records or their identities.


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