Sun, Aug 27, 2006
Security Scares Plague Seven Flights Friday
Issues ranging from a
child who said the wrong thing... to a missing panel in a lav... to
a college student carrying a stick of dynamite he bought in South
America are but three of the reasons a total of seven commercial
airline flights were disrupted on Friday, in the worse day yet for
security scares since a terror plot against transatlantic flights
was foiled by British authorities August 10.
At the forefront of those incidents is the report a 21-year-old
college student, identified by the Associated Press as Howard
McFarland Fish, was found with a stick of dynamite aboard a
Continental Airlines flight from Argentina. The student was
apprehended when the flight landed at Houston's Bush
Intercontinental Airport.
Fish's father told the AP he believes his son, who works in
mining, bought the dynamite during his trip to a South American
silver mine... and he's certain the incident was simply a case of
his son not realizing the implications of such a move.
"It's a 21-year-old kid not paying careful attention to the
press and thinking it would be cool to have a piece of dynamite,"
said Howard Fish.
Regardless of intent, the younger Fish will appear before a
federal magistrate Monday... where he faces a possible penalty of
up to 10 years in jail, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Also in question is how Argentine authorities allowed the
explosive to slip through security screening procedures in that
country. Authorities are in contact with their counterparts in the
US to determine how that happened, said Argentina's chief of
airport security police, Marcelo Sain.
Here is a rundown of the other incidents Friday, with updates
where available on those stories already reported by Aero-News:
- It appears a bomb threat may have been behind the diversion of
an American Airlines flight from England
to Chicago. FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said
federal officials "learned of a reported threat," but declined to
give specifics on the incident. No one was arrested when the plane
from Manchester diverted to Bangor, ME.
- A passenger who was subdued by an air marshal aboard a US Airways flight from Phoenix to
Charlotte, NC will undergo mental evaluation, after he
pushed a flight attendant -- which led to the flight making an
unscheduled stop in Oklahoma City. It is not certain if the man
will face criminal charges for the incident.
- A Continental Airlines flight from Corpus Christi, TX to
Bakersfield was held on the ground in El Paso after the cabin crew
discovered a missing panel in the lav.
- Authorities are still trying to determine how a utility knife
was brought onboard a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to
Connecticut. The knife was found on a vacant passenger seat after
the plane landed at Bradley International Airport. No threat was
involved, according to a state police spokesman.
- All's well after a phoned-in bomb threat led to the
evacuation of an Aer Lingus flight in Shannon.
- And in Chicago, a United Airlines flight out of O'Hare was
delayed when a small boy said something inappropriate, according an
anonymous government official. And why did the child do such a
thing? "He didn't want to fly."
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