LONDON -- Three young men told authorities Friday they stole aboard a parked British Airways jet at Heathrow Airport and took a videotape of themselves sitting in the cockpit and roaming freely in the passenger area.
The three boarded the unguarded British Airways jet Monday, hours after airlines were warned that three Palestinians may attempt to hijack a U.S. airplane in Europe.
A videotape of their escapade was aired by Independent Television News Thursday. The Daily Star newspaper said in one scene in the home video -- a part which was not aired -- the young men dropped their pants in the cockpit and showed their backsides to the camera to show disrespect for security at Heathrow.
The antics of the West London men renewed concerns about airport security following the bombing of a Pan American World Airways jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, Dec. 21, killing 270 people.
Labor Party spokesman John Prescott said, 'If these young people had been terrorists, there is no doubt they could have planted an explosive device.'
The three said it was the second time they had gotten aboard an aircraft, having previously sneaked aboard a Concorde.
The video aired Thursday showed the three sitting in the captain's seat and roaming around the passenger area of the British Airways jet.
The three, Lionel Scurville and Darren Wheland, both 21, and Shoaib Khan, 20, boasted how easy it was to board the British Airways jet, parked in a maintenance area.
With a camera, they scaled a security fence and ran across the tarmac to the Boeing 747. They then climbed up a ladder and through a door in the plane's undercarriage or belly.
Khan said, 'We were just amazed how easy it was.'
All three said it would have been simple for them to plant a bomb.
'They say they are cracking down on security in the wake of Lockerbie, but we have proved that it is a joke,' he said. 'It started out as a prank, but now we can use that prank to prove a point to the world.'
It was not immediately clear whether legal action would be taken against them. A British Airways spokesman said a full-scale investigation was under way.
'We place utmost importance on safety and security. Any alleged breach of security is taken extremely seriously by the airline. An investigation into the incident is being held. It must be made clear that the incident took place in a maintenance, not an operational area.'
A transportation spokesman said the incident occurred 'outside the perimeter of security and on land which belongs to British Airways. It is not really a question of the airport perimeter security being breached.'
Earlier this year, when reporters posing as cleaners got into an aircraft, the Transport Department ordered stricter security at the airport.
