‘ISIS-inspired’ plot to bomb a plane was foiled at check-in at Sydney airport

An elaborate terror plot to blow up a plane was thwarted at the last minute by staff at Sydney Airport’s check-in desk because the bag allegedly containing the bomb was too heavy to carry on board.

The alleged ISIS-inspired plot reportedly came so close to being carried out that the device the men planned to use made it all the way into the airport’s international terminal.

The improvised homemade device – which was fashioned out of a meat mincer – was stopped from being taken on the flight when the passenger carrying it was told his bag was too heavy to be stored in the overhead cabin, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Neither the passenger or the bag ever made its way onto the passenger jet, which is believed to have been an Etihad Airways flight leaving Sydney for Abu Dhabi.

Police reportedly made the discovery in the days after raiding a number of homes in Sydney’s suburbs on Saturday, which led to the arrest of four men.

Brothers Khaled and Abdul Merhi, as well as father and son duo Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat were arrested during the raids.

But Abdul Merhi, 50, was released without charge on Tuesday while the other three men remain in police custody.

It comes as it was revealed the alleged terror cell planned to use a ‘sacrificial lamb’ to carry and detonate the bomb when on board the 500 seat passenger jet.

‘The person was going to be blown up without knowing they were part of a suicide mission,’ a source told The Daily Telegraph.

‘It was as close to a major terror attack as we have ever come.’

Having picked an international flight as their target, the men were forced into a last-minute change of plans when the baggage wasn’t allowed on board.

But Australian authorities were only alerted by overseas intelligence agencies when the alleged conspiracy was revived.

Etihad Airways confirmed it was helping police with their investigation as authorities continue to sift through evidence from the counter-terrorism raids.

‘The Etihad Airways aviation security team is assisting the AFP with its investigation and the matter is ongoing,’ the airline said in a statement.

‘Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely.’

Deakin University terror expert Greg Barton suggested the alleged plan may have centred around acetone peroxide – or TATP.

It was the same chemical used in this year’s Manchester Arena bombing and Paris attacks in 2015.

Referred to as the ‘mother of Satan’ because it can kill those handling it, TATP is unstable but powerful and would not give off ‘tell-tale’ chemicals picked up by airport swab tests, Prof Barton said.

‘That makes it a candidate for using in this sort of attack.’

TATP, which needs a pressure vessel to be packed in, could be placed in a grinder so it was opaque through an X-ray machine and appeared innocuous upon visual inspection.

‘It might just pass (security),’ Prof Barton said. That, I’m guessing, was their plan.’

Source: Daily Mail