A terrorism expert has dismissed the liquid bomb plot that disrupted the United Kingdom's air traffic.
American expert Marvin Cetron said the liquid explosives central to the alleged plot "are largely a Hollywood fantasy".
Pentagon security advisor Martin Cetron
"They require hours to prepare even after being smuggled on board, plus a lot of ice to keep them cool during the process,"said Mr Cetron, a security adviser to the Pentagon.
"To remain undetected, they also need passengers and a flight crew with a defective sense of smell. And they are likely to blow up in mid-preparation with just enough force to kill the would-be chemist, but no one else," he added.
"British authorities, apparently prompted by Washington, trumpeted their arrest of some two dozen plotters who, it is said, planned to blow up airliners flying from Britain to the United States in August.
"On closer examination, there probably was less to the scheme than met the eye. The plot was more farcical than fearsome," Mr Cetron said.
Nonetheless, the alert triggered a new round of airport security precautions, shrank airline profits for a few weeks, and brought the risk of terrorism back to public awareness.
The comments from Mr Cetron come as Europe prepares to relax the emergency hand luggage regulations that disrupted and cost the airline industry a near 30 per cent drop in passenger traffic.