Suspicious Items at LaGuardia Airport Cause Security Scare
Posted by Kaitlin Kindbergh on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 @ 03:56 PM
Overview
Two TSA agents noticed suspicious items in a passenger’s carry-on bag on Monday during routine screening at LaGuardia Airport. The items in question were two pipes, raising suspicion that they could have been pipe bombs. Rather than reporting the items as suspicious to the Port Authority Bomb Squad, the items were placed aside in the screening area for several hours. In a statement released by the TSA, the items were not allowed through the checkpoint due to their appearance. The owner apparently surrendered them voluntarily. Screeners on the next shift noticed the items, and notified the bomb squad. According to the passenger, the pipes were used for homeopathic medicine and the items were cleared by a TSA bomb specialist.
Situational Awareness
In this incident, the pipes were each six inches long, and contained “springs.” Had the screener known that “springs” are not used in pipe bombs, the security scare would have been avoided.
MSA Explosive Detection experts have taken several x-ray images of a mock-up pipe bomb to provide your personnel with situational awareness during their screening operations. These images are provided below. They contain a power source (9 volt battery), an electric match, a micro switch and a packet of black powder.
It is important to note that if your facility screening process includes x-ray machines, the images presented by an x-ray of these types of devices should present identifiable components that a screener should be looking for: Power Source, Initiator, Explosive, and Switch (PIES).
