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The long silence after Swissair 111 exploded, in what had to be a bomb, struck the public as more curious than the fact of a bombing itself. Swissair has a well deserved reputation as one of the safest air lines. How then would a bomb be planted, and why the odd profile, where the plane was in trouble for several minutes before exploding? Airport security, which includes inspecting the maintenance crews, is geared toward the average nut case trying to carry a suspicious package. Scanning devices, watching for body language or suspicious behavior of the passengers or crew, cover all but a small percentage of means and ways. Just as few homes can be guarded against the professional, airlines cannot guard against professionals, and it was a professional job.
Closely guarded individuals are vulnerable when traveling, and often use public transportation to lessen their risk. Planes can be shot out of the air, so placing oneself on a crowded plane with children, innocent children, often acts as a type of human bodyguard. This ploy works when one is trying to avoid being hit by those of good conscience, but does not work when the assassins are hardened and cold. Several individuals on this plane, unknown to the public but carrying secrets they had been threatening to reveal, were targeted. Speculation runs high, as the plane carried UN personnel, wealthy Arabs, and government agents. None of these were the targets, but a little known group of financiers, who were threatening to reveal information that would shake confidence in the financial giants of the world. In failing markets, to utter these truths, when one is in a position to know these truths, is equivalent to signing a death warrant.