Bomb Scare Stems From Training Drill
A dog trainer's mistake sparked another international scare about explosives on airplanes, Slovak officials said on Wednesday.
The Slovakian government apologized for a security officer's error that resulted in explosives he tucked into the belt of a backpack that belonged to an unwitting passenger being loaded onto a flight to Dublin Airport on Saturday, Ireland's Department of Justice said Wednesday.
In a security experiment gone wrong that angered Irish politicians and worried already nervous airline passengers around the world, the 49-year-old Slovakian passenger unknowingly transported about 96 grams of high-grade plastic explosives called RDX from Poprad-Tatry airport in northeastern Slovakia.
The head of the Slovak border police said Wednesday that two explosive samples were used for sniffer-dog training at around noon Saturday, just ahead of the Dublin-bound flight of budget carrier Danube Wings.
The samples were placed between pieces of checked-in luggage that were loaded onto a cart to be towed out of the airport building to the plane. After the officer's dog found both explosive samples, the officer failed to remove one of them, and didn't tell his supervisors until Monday, said Tibor Mako, the head of Slovak border police.
The airport's civilian air-control staff cleared the Dublin flight for takeoff because the officer said no detonating device was attached to the explosive, and it wasn't certain the sample had been loaded on the aircraft. The officer said he remembered wrapping the sample in the waist belt of a backpack.
"On Monday we then screened [closed-circuit] camera footage and managed to identify the backpack on the wagon and his owner," Mr. Mako said. "This whole process of checking images of luggage of 160 passengers took until late Monday when we informed the Irish police."
The innocent Slovak man carrying the explosives to Dublin went to his home there, and didn't find the explosives hidden in his baggage. On Tuesday, Irish police, unaware that the man had no knowledge of the explosives, arrested him at his home. The police later released the man.
Ireland's Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has asked the Irish Police Commissioner to compile a full report on the incident.
Training sniffer dogs by using real explosives is a standard procedure around the world because the dogs must learn exactly what they are seeking. Dogs are widely used to sniff for weapons, drugs and other contraband, although their effectiveness is sometimes questioned.
Norman Shanks, an aviation-security consultant in England, said the use of such materials in training is a problem because the trace amounts left behind can contaminate surfaces or baggage that it contacts.
The backpack that was sent to Dublin with RDX would probably set off any explosive detectors it passes for months or years, Mr. Shanks said. "This guy might want to get a new backpack," he added.
This isn't the first time security officials have misplaced explosives in tests. French police in 2004 lost explosives in a passenger's bag during dog training at Charles de Gaulle Airport. A similar event occurred several years ago at London's Heathrow Airport, Mr. Shanks said.
-- Daniel Michaels
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