beamjockey | Hot Potato in the Sky

I spotted an interesting news item and sent it to Bruce Schneier, who noted it in his own blog. It's a case of different risks tugging in several directions:

[From the "Washington Outlook" column, edited by David Bond, in Aviation
Week and Space Technology, April 9, 2007, p. 21.]

Need to Know

Security and society's litigious bent combine to make airlines unsuited for figuring out the best place to put a suspected explosive device discovered during a flight, AirTran Airways tells the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). Commenting on a proposed rule that would require, among other things, designation of a "least risk bomb location" (LRBL)-- the place on an aircraft where a bomb would do the least damage if it exploded-- AirTran engineering director Rick Shideler says it's hard for airlines to get aircraft design information related to such a location because of agreements between manufacturers and the Homeland Security Department. The carrier got LRBL information for its 717s and 737s from Boeing but can't find out why the locations were chosen, "or even who specifically picked them," because of liability laws.

I like that this is a hot potato in two different senses: a decision nobody wants to be responsible for, as well as a literal object-you'd-like-to-get-rid-of.