LONDON — A 2006 plot to blow up passenger jets over the Atlantic could have resulted in the near-simultaneous detonation of seven Boeing 777s, with authorities having no means of halting “an act of terrorism on an almost unprecedented scale” once it was under way, prosecutors said Thursday.
As the trial opened for eight Britons accused of hatching the plot, prosecutors for the first time laid out evidence in a now-infamous scheme that paralyzed airports on both sides of the Atlantic and ended the era when airline passengers could carry on a soft drink or large bottle of shampoo.
At least seven flights were targeted, leaving at midafternoon from London’s Heathrow Airport for New York, Washington, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco, prosecutor Peter Wright told jurors.
“Therefore, barring unexpected cancellation or lengthy delay, seven passenger aircraft carrying hundreds of passengers and crew depart Heathrow Airport entirely at the mercy of the suicide bombers who happen to be on board with their deadly devices,” Wright said.
The trial is expected to last eight months for the eight men, many of them strongly observant Muslims who hail mainly from suburban communities around Britain.
All eight men have pleaded not guilty to charges that include conspiracy to murder, preparing acts of terrorism and, in at least one case, possession of illegal firearms. According to the charges, at least one defendant had a book on improvised explosive devices, suicide notes and wills, and a map of Afghanistan.
The majority of the prosecution’s case is expected to be laid out today, but, in an initial overview Thursday, Wright detailed how the suspects were believed to have planned to disguise bombs as bottles of soft drinks to smuggle them through airport security.
Potentially explosive quantities of hydrogen peroxide, the prosecutor said, were to be mixed with Tang, a fruit-flavored drink powder, then injected by hypodermic needle into the bottom of plastic drink bottles to make it appear as if the bottles were unopened when they were taken through security.
AA batteries, he said, were to be emptied and refilled with a homemade detonating compound, which would be set off with something such as a disposable camera flash.
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