There is a Scottish saying that translates to how the best-laid plans of men and mice often go awry. International airport security is said to be so tight that even mice and rats aren’t supposed to sneak past. But here was 11-year-old Liam Corcoran-Fort putting paid to such pretensions — not only going through five security checks at Manchester airport, but then flying on to Rome.
He may have walked through immigration there as well had not his presence on the aircraft raised a red flag somewhere. While his mother is happy to have Liam back, the staff of the airline Jet2 and those at Manchester airport security and immigration are left red-faced.
What makes this even more ridiculous is that he was wearing a Spiderman costume, which should have set off alarm bells: not so long ago this disguise came in handy when James Holmes gunned down several people at an Atlanta theatre screening The Dark Knight. The plane escapade underlines how it’s virtually impossible to design foolproof security checks that prelude stray breaches. And the timing further puts the skids on security costing a pretty penny for organisers of the ongoing London Olympics.
The “Rome alone” escapade mocks at the very concept of enhanced security worldwide in the aftermath of 9/11 to the point of choking genuine passengers who comprise close to 99.9 per cent of travellers. The experience of the stowaway brings into question the very principle of spending outrageous and vastly disproportionate sums obsessively on aviation security.