Key observations pertaining to the fast azimuthal propagation of solar cosmic ray particles are reviewed. Briefly, protons and electrons with a wide range of energies from 40¿ to 60¿ heliolongitude on either side of a flare site have access to the earth--sun interplanetar field line within an hour a flare onset. We propose that coronal magnetic bottles, produced by flares, serve as temporary traps for solar cosmic rays in some instances. It is the expansion of these bottles at velocities of 300--500 km/s which allows fast azimuthal propagation of solar cosmic rays independent of energy. As a result of the Rayleigh--Taylor instability, cosmic rays originally trapped inside the bottle are released into interplanetary space at a time of the order of 0.5-1 hour after the flare.