Photo: dkwonsh/Flickr
U.S. military and diplomatic officials are saying it’s very likely that a bomb brought down a Russian plane over Egypt last week. And although it hasn’t been confirmed officially, the TSA plans to do whatever it can to ramp up security measures at airports both overseas and at home.
In a statement, the aviation agency said it would be doing the following:
(i) expanded screening applied to items on aircraft, (ii) airport assessments in conjunction with our international partners, and (iii) offers of other assistance to certain foreign airports related to aviation and airport security, as well as additional measures, both seen and unseen.
There are no direct flights from Sharm el Sheikh, the Egyptian beach resort town where the plane took off, to the U.S., so it’s tough to say exactly which international airports will be affected.
Here’s how other countries and airlines have also reacted:
- The U.K. has taken the toughest stance on the crash so far, canceling all flights to and from Sharm El Sheikh airport. The country started allowing flights back home on Friday (November 6), but only a handful, leaving thousands of British tourists stranded.
- Meanwhile, Russia is now being equally tough, doing an about-face and freshly announcing a ban on all flights to Egypt. Previously, the government had rejected claims about a bomb as “speculation”.
- France, Belgium and the Netherlands also issued flight warnings to their citizens. Those flights that are leaving Sharm El Sheikh, however, are doing so without checked luggage. Authorities suspect that’s how a bomb could’ve made it on board.
- KLM announced it would not be allowing checked baggage on an upcoming Cairo to Amsterdam flight, either.
- After news of the disaster broke, Lufthansa, Emirates and Qatar Airways all suspended flights over the Sinai Peninsula.
All this has forced Egypt to place restrictions on the number of flights leaving Sharm El Sheikh, because the airport doesn’t have capacity for all the checked baggage certain to be left behind. On Friday, for example, Monarch Airlines was allowed to operate only one of five scheduled flights, and Easyjet two of eight.