The Celtic League have written to the European Aviation Safety Agency asking if it is going to carry out an investigation into the incident in which Slovak police placed explosives on a Dublin bound flight a week ago.
Mystery surrounds the so-called security exercise in which deadly RDX explosives were placed surreptitiously in a passenger's luggage and then `overlooked' when it left Poprad - Tatry airport for Dublin.
Some days after the flight Irish police say they were alerted and recovered the explosives in a city centre flat. The passenger was still unaware of the actions of the Slovak police.
Claim and counter claim have bounced back and forward between Dublin and Bratislava as the two sides have tried to explain the incident.
Meanwhile the credibility of the Slovak police is not helped by the appalling record of the force which has been the subject of criticism from European Rights bodies and credible NGOs such as Amnesty International.
A copy of the letter to EASA Chief Executive, Patrick Goudou, is set out below:
«Patrick Goudou Executive Director European Aviation Safety Agency Postfach 10 12 53 D-50452 Koeln, Germany
09/01/10
Dear Mr Goudou,
I write with reference to the incident in which Slovak airport security authorities secretly `inserted' explosives into a passenger's baggage as part of a `security exercise'.
The explosives were subsequently carried by the airliner involved from Poprad – Tatry airport in the Slovak Republic to Dublin airport in Ireland (and subsequently on to an address in Dublin).
Will EASA be conducting enquiries into this extraordinary incident and the safety implications of security measures at both the Slovak departure airport and the destination arrival.
Yours sincerely
J B Moffatt Director of Information»
Irish Times report on the incident here:
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
10/01/10
■