Bad luck

With all the hassle travellers have to suffer these days, and no liquids to be carried, the experience of passengers on a Ryan Air flight can only be described as extreme bad luck.

It appears that someone had snuck into the plane some mushroom soup which then dripped from an overhead locker on to the head of a passenger. Bad enough, you might think (although not as bad as tomato) but the soup triggered an allergic reaction, forcing the plane to land early.

This seems rather like the mobile phones controversy - supposed to put the plane at risk but no one really believed they did. If there really is a danger from liquids carried on a flight (that they might be explosive, and be detonated by a suicide bomber in the plane) then some official's negligence has put a plane load of passengers at risk. If not....

This seems like a golden opportunity for Health'n'Safety. Was the soup labelled appropriately (may cause allergic reaction above 30,000 ft); how did it leak out?; should 'at soup-risk' passengers be made to wear hats?; should planes fly empty because the whole thing is too damn risky?

We should be told.