Safety

The International Civil Aviation Organization’s specialist aviation security panel, AvSec, is to assess the potential hazard posed by liquid explosives at a meeting to be convened in Montreal next month.

It follows a unanimous recommendation from the ICAO Council for AvSec to give the “highest priority” to dealing with the possible threat, on which attention has focused since UK authorities, on 10 August, intercepted an alleged plot to destroy aircraft.

The panel will meet at ICAO headquarters from 11-15 September.

ICAO Council president Roberto Kobeh González says that the panel should “fully assess” the danger associated with liquid explosives and return “practical and sustainable” recommendations to improve security.

In the wake of the UK police action earlier this month European Union security ministers have emphasised a need for counter-terrorism research to concentrate on liquid explosives and the risk they pose to air transport.