Summary

NAME: UK BA PLANES 20061129I TAPE: EF06/1152 IN_TIME: 10:24:18:07 DURATION: 00:02:28:19 SOURCES: SKY News DATELINE: London, 29 Nov 2006 RESTRICTIONS: No Access UK/Ireland/CNNi SHOTLIST No Access UK/Ireland/CNNi ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 1. British Airways (BA) plane at terminal 2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Willie Walsh, British Airways Chief Executive: "Early today we had confirmation that two of our aircraft, two Boeing 767s, that were identified by government have traces of radioactive material on board the aircraft. Three specific aircraft were initially identified, three 767s. Two of those aircraft have been tested and very low levels of radioactive traces have been discovered on the aircraft." 3. British Airways plane at terminal 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Willie Walsh, British Airways Chief Executive: "In total, there are 221 flights involved, involving the three aircraft. I think the 70 that you are referring to involved one of the aircraft, so in total, with the three aircraft, a total of 221 flights and we estimate that there are 33,000 passengers involved. We have identified all of the flights, all 221 flights and they will be published on our website BA dot com." 5. Service vehicles drive past one BA plane at terminal and stop at another. STORYLINE Attempts were under way in Britain on Wednesday to contact up to 33,000 air passengers who may have been come into contact with a radio-active substance that could have been involved in the death of Russian intelligence defector Alexander Litvinenko. Authorities found traces of radiation on two British Airways jetliners in London, grounded a third plane in Moscow and asked passengers on more than 200 flights to come forward as investigators widened their search for clues in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. All three planes had been on the London-Moscow route, British Airways said. In the last three weeks they had also travelled to routes across Europe, including Barcelona, Frankfurt and Athens. It was not immediately clear how the radioactive traces got on the aircraft. Authorities refused to specify whether the substance found was polonium-210, the rare radioactive element that was found in Litvinenko's body after his death November 23. British Airways said it had been told the risk to the public was low. "We have identified all of the flights, all 221 flights and they will be published on our website, BA dot com," the company's chief executive officer Willie Walsh said. The airline has published a list of the flights affected on its Web site, and told customers on these flights to contact a special help-line set up by the Health Ministry. Litvinenko, a former colonel with Russia's Federal Security Service, had been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before his death. In a deathbed accusation, he blamed Putin for his poisoning, a charge which Putin strongly denied. High doses of polonium-210, a rare radioactive element usually manufactured in specialised nuclear facilities, were found in his body and Britain's health protection agency began a screening program for people who visited the same venues as Litvinenko on November 1. So far traces of radiation have been found at six sites visited by the former spy. British Airways officials said the British government contacted them late on Tuesday with orders to ground the planes for investigators to test for radiation. Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, who chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee, said that the tests on the planes were part of a wider scientific investigation into sites that could be linked to Litvinenko's death. Earlier on Wednesday, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella, one of the last people to see Litvinenko before he fell ill, said that tests have cleared him of radioactive contamination. Scaramella travelled from Rome to meet with Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on November 1, the day Litvinenko first reported the symptoms that ultimately led to his death in the intensive care ward of a central London hospital. More than three dozen staff at the two hospitals where Litvinenko was treated will be tested for radioactive contamination, Britain's Health Protection Agency said earlier on Wednesday. An autopsy to establish the cause and circumstances of Litvinenko's death is due on Friday. Keyword- aircraft- aviation