How Did British Reporters Sneak Fake Bomb On Plane?

In a media stunt reminiscent of the NBC fiasco in St. Louis, an undercover reporter for Britain's Sun newspaper smuggled a fake bomb aboard a jetliner in central England. He even took a picture of himself holding the erzats device while in the baggage hold of the aircraft.

Transport officials in the UK scrambled Tuesday to find out how the reporter, posing as a baggage handler, was able to smuggle the fake bomb on board a Thomas Cook Airlines Boeing 757 carrying 220 passengers.

"Had I been one of Osama Bin Laden's terrorists, I could have wiped out more than 220 British passengers... and thousands more on the ground below," said 31-year old Anthony France in an interview with AFP.

France was hired by a private contractor, Aviance, despite using false references.

The reporter said he was left alone by his supervisors for five minutes or so, when he walked through the security checkpoint with the fake bomb on his person. He reportedly told security screeners at Birmingham International Airport that his steel-toed shoes had set off the alarms. He was allowed to pass.

The Sun said the 200-gram device was about half the size of a bomb that ripped apart Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbee, Scotland in 1988, killing all 259 people on board and eleven on the ground.

"We are following with the airport the security issues raised as a matter of urgency," said a Department of Transportation spokesman in the wake of the incident.

FMI: www.caa.co.uk