Re: your statement about how easy it is to bring down a commercial airliner.
What evidence can you present that a plane killing device, which would have to be operated surreptitiously from within the passenger compartment, could be made small enough to fit in a person’s waistband?
You may wish to see my post in this thread, here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3009852/posts?page=23#23
for my discussion of an assertion opposite to yours, to wit: such a plane-killing device could not be made small enough to require the mass searches that the TSA uses.
-Two Russian aircraft were brought down by suicide bombers hiding the bombs on their person. “The bra bombers”.
-The Lockerbie bomb was only 300 grams of mainly RDX. That is about 200cc, the volume of a small 6.7oz cup of water. It is believed that the bomb was concealed inside a walkman tape player. However, the bomb was randomly placed in the cargo hold inside a suitcase and not at the wall. RDX produces incredible pressure up close but has a smaller blast radius than some other explosives. This was also a 747 and large planes have more room for expansion. Even so, the bomb instantly blew multiple holes in the side of the cargo hold, the bulkhead, the floor and the roof of the 747. The plane disintegrated seconds after. Such a bomb can be easily concealed in underwear or inside a body cavity.
-Ramzi Yousef placed a small liquid bomb on a Philippine Airlines 747. The exact quantity was not calculated like in Lockerbie but he claimed that it was only 1/10 of a bottle of contact lens cleaner. This is only 1 to 1.5oz and judging by how much less damage there was compared to Lockerbie, this is an accurate estimate. It was placed under a seat away from the exterior and closer to the center of the plane because his intent was to hit the center fuel tank. It blew a man-sized hole in the floor, cut the control cables in the ceiling and completely blew off the lower half of the man sitting there. The plane did not go down because he miscalculated the location of the tank, placed it in the wrong seat and it was far from the blast radius. It was also was too far inside to punch an exterior wall.