Air India thought 'crying wolf'

Ottawa: Canadian security officials played down Air India’s Sikh terrorism concerns, suggesting the airline was simply crying wolf in order to get extra security at no extra cost, according to a document presented at the Air India Inquiry today.
That frame of mind even persisted even after the Flight 182 was destroyed by a bomb off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 aboard, many of them Indo-Canadian.
“It was learned that almost every flight was preceded by a letter outlining a threat to Air India. It was felt by most people present that this was Air India’s way of having increased security for their flights at no extra cost to them,” RCMP Sgt. Warren Sweeney wrote in a memo after a meeting of several federal agencies in Ottawa on Jan. 9, 1986.
Although not clear, this meeting may have been called in the wake of the terrorist act in order to prepare for civil litigation, among other things.
It was learned earlier in the day at the inquiry that a telex sent June 1, 1985 by Air India to airport officials in Toronto outlining a detailed threat of sabotage by Sikh extremists was not even sent along to the CSIS threat assessment desk in Ottawa.
Had it been, said John Henry, formerly with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s threat assessment desk, he would have immediately passed it along to he agency’s so-called Sikh desk where it would have been thoroughly assessed.
“I don’t believe they saw it,” Henry said.
It was one of many threats against the airline since it started flying to Canada in the fall of 1984.
The June Air India telex was chilling in its detail.
“Assessment of threat received from intelligence agencies reveal the likelihood of sabotage attempts being undertaken by Sikh extremists by placing time/delay devices etc. in the aircrafts or registered baggage. It is also learnt (sic) that Sikh extremists are planning to set up suicide squads who may attempt to blow up an aircraft by smuggling explosives in the registered or carry-on baggage or any other means,” it stated.
Flight 182 was blown out of the sky by a time-delayed device smuggled on in checked luggage. In a separate but related incident two airport workers were killed in Narita Japan when a time delayed bomb exploded.
08/05/07 Richard Brennan/Toronto Star, Canada

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Categories: Air India May 2007, Foreign May 2007, Safety May 2007