New calls to tighten air security

The aviation industry is facing calls to tighten up air security.

Two newspapers have exposed weaknesses that could have been exploited by terrorists.

One team of journalists got into the cockpit of a passenger jet and another chartered a plane and flew directly over a nuclear power plant.

A two-man team from a British tabloid roamed freely around a Boeing 737 passenger jet at Stansted Airport.

Another team from a regional newspaper chartered a plane and flew directly over a nuclear power plant in Somerset.

The tabloid journalists drove into the staff car park of maintenance firm FLS Aerospace at Stansted, Essex, before walking into a hangar, the newspaper claimed.

They were said to have walked past a security office without being asked for identification and climbed into a plane belonging to the cut-price airline Go.

They spent an hour in the hangar and in the plane, and even picked up a coffee at the vending machine as staff strolled by, it is claimed.

A spokeswoman for FLS Aerospace said: "The security personnel who were on duty have been suspended without prejudice pending an investigation.

The US has imposed no-fly zones around its nuclear power stations but the regional newspaper plane was able to circle directly above Hinkley Point A and B nuclear reactors, near Bridgwater, while a photographer took pictures.