2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Plot

The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada. The plot was discovered and foiled by British police before it could be carried out and, as a result, unprecedented security measures were immediately put in place.

The restrictions were gradually relaxed in the following weeks, but the ability of passengers to carry liquids onto commercial aircraft is still limited.

Of the approximately 24 suspects who were arrested in and around London on the night of 9 August 2006, eleven were charged with terrorism offences on 21 August, two on 25 August (subsequently discharged on 1 November), and a further three on 30 August. Eight men (Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, Oliver Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman, Umar Islam, Mohammed Gulzar) were charged in connection with the plot. The trial began in April 2008 and ended in September. The jury failed to reach a verdict on charges of conspiracy to kill by blowing up aircraft, but the court did find three guilty of conspiracy to murder. In September 2009, a second trial (of the eight men excluding Gulzar but with the addition of Donald Stewart-Whyte) found Ali, Sarwar, and Hussain guilty of the plot.

In July 2010, Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Khan and Waheed Zaman were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to murder. They must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison before being eligible for release.