British Airways Cancels London-Washington Flight

British Airways¹ Cancels London-Washington Flight

Michael Bowman

Another international flight to the United States has been cancelled amid continued security worries.

British Airways scrubbed one of three daily flights from London to the Washington area Thursday, the latest in a series of cancellations of international flights bound for the United States.

British Airways spokesman John Lamphill, "The British government directed British Airways to cancel flight 223. We can only assume that is due to security reasons, but we have no other explanation."

Wednesday, another British Airways flight was detained several hours upon arrival at Washington's Dulles Airport while U.S. authorities questioned a number of passengers and conducted extra baggage screening. All passengers were eventually allowed to disembark.

FBI spokeswoman Debbie Wierman said authorities acted on "routine interest" rather than a specific threat or allegation.

"There were names listed on the manifest of the plane that matched [the names of] persons that U.S. law enforcement officials were interested in interviewing. It was routine interest on our part, and, when it was all said and done, we had no concerns or worries."

But not everyone sees the stepped-up security effort as benign³. One passenger from the delayed British Airways flight vented⁴ his displeasure. "This was detention⁵ without due process, as far as I am concerned. I am an American citizen and I expect to be treated as such in my own country."

Last week, Air France canceled a half-dozen flights between Paris and Los Angeles. Wednesday, an AeroMexico flight bound for the United States was also scrubbed after U.S. officials raised security concerns with their Mexican counterparts.

The Associated Press quotes a spokesman for Mexico's government as complaining that U.S. officials did not share specific information about what provoked their concerns.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the nation's alert status to "orange" - the second highest level on a five color-coded scale. Earlier this week Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge⁶ announced new airline security measures, including an initiative to have sky marshals aboard certain flights operated by foreign carriers.

 

注释：

scrub [skrQb] v. 取消

bound for  开往

assume [E5sju:m] vt. 假定

be due to  由于

detain [di5tein] v. 留住，拘留

Washington's Dulles Airport  华盛顿杜勒斯机场

conduct [5kCndQkt] v. 实施

disembark [5disim5bB:k] v. 登机

FBI abbr. Federal Bureau of Investigation⁷ （美国）联邦调查局

routine interest   例行公事

allegation [7Ali5^eiFEn] n. 断言，指控

manifest [5mAnifest] n. 旅客名单

stepped-up   增加的，加强的

benign [bi5nain] adj. 仁慈的, 良好的

vent² [vent] v. 发泄

detention [di5tenFEn] n. 滞留，拘留

due [dju:] adj. 正当的，适当的

AeroMexico   墨西哥航空公司

counterpart [5kauntEpB:t] 对手，相对物

provoke [prE5vEuk] vt. 引起，激发

Department of Homeland Security  国土安全部

color-coded  用颜色分类的

initiative [i5niFiEtiv] n. 首创

sky marshal  空中警官

 

1 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

2 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

3 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

4 vented   

表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
• He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。