Ace of Spades HQ

November 30, 2006

Radiation Found On Two British Flights, Twelve Different Sites
— Ace

A third jet is being closely examined. The good news, I guess, is that radioactive toxins are now pretty decisively no longer effective as secret poisons.

A link with one of the Russians he met:

The investigation into the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has spread to 33,000 British Airways passengers after radioactive traces were found on aircraft.
Experts found low levels of radioactive traces on two aircraft at Heathrow airport and were preparing to examine a third in Moscow, the airline said.
...
The airline said in a statement: "British Airways has been advised that three of its Boeing 767 short haul aircraft have been identified by the UK government as part of the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
...
Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "It appears that after Mr Litvinenko met the Italian Scaramella for lunch on November 1 he met two Russians.
"At least one of them flew back to Moscow on November 3."

Those who read much into the radiation traces found at Berezovsky's offices also need to explain these traces, I think.

A former Russian Prime Minister fell ill as well:

In another development, it has emerged a former Russian Prime Minister is seriouly ill in hospital - possibly the victim of poisoning.
Yegor Gaidar fell ill during a book tour of Ireland and was flown back to Russia for emergency treatment.
In the UK, low levels of radiation have been found on two BA jets connected to the case.
A third is being held in Moscow until it is safe for it to return.
Mr Reid said checks had been carried out on a fourth plane which flew into Heathrow from Moscow on Thursday morning.
The Russian Boeing 737, which is leased by Transaero, was later given the all clear.
Mr Reid said concerns have been raised about a fifth plane - also a Russian aircraft.
BA is contacting 33,000 passengers and 3,000 staff after "low levels of radioactive traces" were found on the two jets at Heathrow. Both had flown between London and Moscow.
A spokesman said they were being examined because "individuals involved in the Litvinenko case" had travelled on them.
...
It has been suggested polonium 210 could be present in other locations because it leaked from a container or was present in people's bodily fluids.

That's not definitive, but I take from that that one can in fact sweat out some Polonium, or carry it around after touching someone else who's sweating it out.

Update: Indirect Link Between Gaidar and Litvinenko Poisoining: Well, I mean a direct link between the men.

The only reported link between Mr Gaidar and Mr Litvinenko is another ex-KGB spy, Andrei Lugovoy, who once served as Mr Gaidars bodyguard and met Mr Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (14)
Post contains 488 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Seriously, there has to be a better way to kill a guy. This stuff is leaving a trail that's literally thousands of miles long. Are they goobers or do they just not care who knows what they were doing?

Neither thought is particularly comforting since whoever 'they' are, they have access to some pretty nasty shit.

Posted by: Drew at November 30, 2006 10:39 AM (gNyUT)

2 Allah covered this yesterday and then said that no one comments on the Litvinenko threads.

So, I have no comment.

Posted by: mesablue at November 30, 2006 10:40 AM (DzeyU)

3 The insertion of the mention of Gaidar was confusing.

The Russians aren't all that good at subtlety, are they?

Posted by: Dianna at November 30, 2006 10:40 AM (qrFCz)

4 This stuff is leaving a trail that's literally thousands of miles long

It's leaving trail(s).

Many of them. It's like a murder weapon that multiplies after it's used and implicates everyone the victim comes in contact with. They won't find out who did this on forensic evidence alone.

Posted by: mesablue at November 30, 2006 10:44 AM (DzeyU)

5 Time for some dectective work.

Who was on these 4 (or possibly 5) planes that led them to be singled out for inspection? The answer should tell us a lot about who the UK suspects of murdering Litvinenko.

Posted by: max at November 30, 2006 10:57 AM (210f1)

6 Isn't it possible that some or all of the detected radiation on the planes (all very, very small trace amounts, if I understand correctly) comes from wholly unrelated, possibly innocent, sources?

I keep wondering how likely it is to find trace amounts of all sorts of weird, random stuff if you start actively looking for it in heavily-trafficked places.

Posted by: David C at November 30, 2006 11:04 AM (9DumO)

7 Isn't it possible that some or all of the detected radiation on the planes (all very, very small trace amounts, if I understand correctly) comes from wholly unrelated, possibly innocent, sources?

It appears that these planes were singled out for inspection, so my guess is that it's not a coincidence that radiation was found on them.

Posted by: max at November 30, 2006 11:11 AM (210f1)

8 Am I the only person that cannot follow this story? I have no idea what's going on. Who're the bad guys? Who're the good guys?

Every time I try to figure out what's going on my eyes glaze over and I fall asleep.

What's the cliff-notes version?

Posted by: rho at November 30, 2006 11:14 AM (aLDBr)

9 Umm, not to be Doctor Picky McPicky but, PO 210 may be toxic but, it isn't a toxin. Only Gods little creatures make toxins. And I'm thinking if a lot of the trace radiation found is from "bodily fluids", the recently departed didn't wash well after bathroom visits. And I've never really heard if they have identified the specific isotopes involved in all the other incidents of trace radiation. Considering the number of folks getting radiologic imaging and treatments, I'd say there's a lot more trace radiation around in public places than most people realize.

Posted by: toxdoc at November 30, 2006 11:14 AM (s/3Xo)

10 rho:

Some Russky offed some other Russky with poison, now we're essentially in Act II "whodunnit" of what is your basic spy thriller.

Go back to dreaming about pooter.

Posted by: Carl in N.H. at November 30, 2006 11:23 AM (BK97c)

11 Because I am a brilliant intellectual with vast knowledge of the Russian language, culture and customs, whenever I hear the name "Gaidar" on the news, I snicker because it sounds like "gaydar".

I should have been part of the Iraq Study Group.

Posted by: Rosetta at November 30, 2006 11:57 AM (CTqCo)

12 Theres something going on here that dont go right somethings rotten in denmark

Posted by: spurwing plover at November 30, 2006 06:05 PM (TPwuq)

13 British Airways have good airfare for their flyers. I didn't ever listen about this news. Thank to make is visible.

Posted by: kedy at June 30, 2011 05:49 AM (YcVxf)

14 hdmi to mini hdmi adapter

Posted by: sdfgh at November 28, 2011 12:17 AM (R9wBA)

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