UneasyJet: Terror alert at Arabic scrawled on planes’ fuel tanks

EXCLUSIVE: Security breach fears at French airports.

Staff warned after scrawl found on four planes

POLICE admit they are “worried” by Arabic graffiti found on panels covering the fuel tanks of four easyJet planes in France.

Aviation experts say only a handful of carefully vetted staff should have access to the tanks while aircraft are refuelled. A memo from easyJet’s head of security told workers of the apparent breach and assured them a team was hunting those responsible.

Concerns ... easyJet plane on the runway at Orly Airport in Paris

Another email, from easyJet cabin safety manager Lisa King, told all staff to be vigilant and follow detailed instructions should they find “an inscription in Arabic”. She told employees: “As of today we have had four aircraft in France with written inscriptions on the inside of the fuel panel, and toilet door in Arabic script.”

Wreckage ... 224 died on Metrojet

The airline refused to reveal its security procedures or say at which of the 18 French airports it operates from the graffiti was found. It did confirm the writing had emerged in the past week.

EasyJet insists the graffiti — a translation of which had not been released last night — is not a direct threat to flights.


But an aviation expert with the Gendarmerie, the French police force responsible for airside security in France, said the graffiti was “a problem”. He added: “It is worrying. Why is there graffiti on a plane? This should not happen.”

The scare follows the Paris massacre of a fortnight ago and the downing of a Russian Metrojet last month which killed all 224 people on board. IS claimed responsibility for that attack and said they planted a bomb in a drinks can, which went undetected as the plane left Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said: “Graffiti in itself won’t hurt anybody. “But the ability of anyone to place a prohibited item near fuel tanks is a concern, of course.

“Bombers want to create a little explosion that blows up then uses plane fuel as the main charge and creates the big explosion.
“We know there are people working in restricted areas of airports with extremist sympathies.”

The Gendarmerie expert added: “It is very difficult to manage security at airports. At Paris Charles de Gaulle there are around 80,000 people working. “That this has happened is not a surprise. People are working every day to improve security levels but it’s really a very hard task.”

Aviation expert Julian Bray, a former security and operations consultant to major airlines said: “It is not unheard of for ground crew to add their initials or names to planes. “It happens a lot in the Far East and Middle Eastern airports where security is very lax. But it’s unusual to hear of this in France where security levels are strict.