London Bans Low Flying Aircraft

Aircraft are to be banned from flying low over London landmarks under terror rules announced yesterday.

A no low-fly zone will be enforced around key buildings, including the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham Palace. The Government insists the move was not taken in response to a specific threat but on the advice of the Metropolitan police.

The measures, to be introduced on October 27, mean all aircraft will need to obtain clearance 28 days in advance to make low-level flights.

Flights to and from Heathrow and London City airports will not be included and police helicopters and other authorised aircraft will also remain exempt.

A memo from National Air Traffic Services, on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority, explained that flights below 1,400 feet are being curtailed for national security reasons.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling says he "deems it necessary, in the public interest" to make restrictions for security reasons.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "This is a small tidy-up of rules relating to air traffic management over London. It is not the result of the receipt of any specific information."

In America, passengers at four of the country's busiest airports are being asked to hand over their wallets, passports and boarding passes in a new security crackdown. The documents are being tested with new explosives-detection machines.

The GBP83,000 scanners are designed to trace microscopic amounts of plastic explosives, like those used by Chechen bombers to bring down two Russian planes last month.

If a passenger has handled explosives, the scanners will pick up traces on items the passenger has handled.

Only 15 per cent of passengers will be selected to undergo additional security checks.

Police acknowledge that some legal substances may trigger the machine, such as fertiliser and some skin creams.

The machines are being trialled at airports in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles, and if the project is successful, it may be rolled out across the whole country.

The new machines come just one day after a classified government report into the shocking state of US airport security was leaked to an American daily newspaper.

The report revealed that undercover investigators were able to slip explosives and weapons past security at 15 US airports.

A Department of Homeland Security official described the performance of security as "poor".