Terrorism scare makes band pipe up

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Members of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band hope some pressure in high places will help them and thousands of travellers, worldwide, recover missing property.

All of the band’s 13 drums, two sets of bagpipes, a uniform and a player’s backpack are among 10 thousand pieces of luggage lost in the transportation nightmare engulfing Britain.

Travellers were forced to check everything short of the clothes on their backs into airplane cargo after intelligence groups uncovered an alleged terrorism plot to bomb planes flying from Britain to the United States.

The SFU Pipe Band was travelling through Heathrow airport to and from the World Pipe Band championships in Glasgow, Scotland when they were embroiled in the transportation lockdown that followed the arrest of suspected terrorists.

The loss of $27,000 worth of instruments has the pipe band worrying how it can perform at the September 8 ceremonies to celebrate the opening of SFU Surrey’s new Central City home. Some of the instruments are irreplaceable; others will take two years to replace if they are permanently lost.

“This is the most massive instrument loss in the history of the band,” laments Rob McNeil, the pipe band’s manager. “We have contacted the offices of MPs James Moore and Bill Siksay, and the British consulate in Vancouver in the hopes of getting the Canadian government to pressure the British government to resolve quickly the baggage handling chaos for all affected travellers.”

Band members want the British government to order the British Airport Authority to use courier companies to expedite the return of luggage. Along with possibly silencing the world championship pipe band, the terrorism scare has put a damper on its first and second place finishes at the recent world pipe band championships.

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