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| Europe |
| Slovak Air Security Test Goes Very Wrong |
| 2010-01-06 |
| In what no doubt seemed like a good idea at the time, Slovak officials decided to test security at two airports in Slovakia on Saturday by concealing plastic explosives in eight suitcases and waiting to see what happened next. Here's what happened next: airport security intercepted seven of the suitcases but failed to detect 96 grams of the plastic explosive RDX loaded into one bag, which belonged to a Slovak electrician who lives in Ireland and had no idea his luggage had been tampered with. The man boarded his flight to Dublin, retrieved his bag and went home to his apartment. The man then unpacked but, The Irish Times reports, “the explosives had been concealed so well that he did not find them.' Two days later, on Monday, it occurred to someone in Slovakia that one of the explosive-packed bags had gone missing and Slovakian police contacted their counterparts in Dublin to ask for help. On Tuesday morning, the Irish Army's bomb squad paid a visit to the apartment of the Slovak electrician in Dublin and secured the explosives. According to a Canadian Press report, the man was detained for several hours by the Irish police who said they “initially were led to believe the man might be a terrorist.' The man was released after Slovak officials made it clear that they had been responsible for planting the explosives. The Web site Slovakia Today reported that the tests were carried out at two airports — one in Bratislava, the country's capital, and the other in central Slovakia. The Canadian Press reported that the explosives were loaded onto a Danube Wings flight to Dublin from Poprad-Tatry Airport. Irish authorities said that Slovakia's interior minister had been in touch to convey “his government's profound regret for this incident,' Reuters reported. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 The old maxim: Always carry your own bomb aboard because the probability of two bombs on a plane is infinitesimal. The old maxim corollary: The more security employed to prevent you carrying your own bomb aboard, the greater probability that there is a bomb. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins**** 2010-01-06 22:29 |
| #7 Uh, uh, D *** NG IT, does this mean 1960's GUAM TAOTAMONOAS + future PENN STATER, "WHAT, YOU'RE A COMMIE-RUSSIAN-CZECHOSLOVAK!" SHE-COULD-HAVE-BEEN-A-US NAVY SEAL/COMMANDO CALENDAR BABE "WENDY" needs a 2010 BAMMER BAILOUT??? gut nuthin. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-01-06 21:44 |
| #6 My mother worked for Northwest Airlines back in the day and they occasionally had her walk through security with a fake grenade to test the security. I think this sort of thing works best when the "mule" knows about it and a powerful figure is there to straighten things out afterwards. The way they handled it in Slovakia was a bit sketchy. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2010-01-06 20:49 |
| #5 This is not an "incident". This is criminal behavior. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2010-01-06 13:51 |
| #4 There have been incidents of Japanese police doing the same thing with drugs, too, just to see what happens. My wife and I fly US to Australia five or six times a year between us, and we never check luggage anymore. One carry on bag in the overhead bin, and that's it. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2010-01-06 10:38 |
| #3 Nah, that's just "gone wrong". It wouldn't have gone very wrong unless the explosives had detonated midair. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2010-01-06 10:17 |
| #2 Irish electrician and flat dweller returns to Dublin from Slovakia with RDX in his bag? Oh what the hell Tommy, let's just go check it out and THEN have a pint and watch St. Vincents. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-06 06:22 |
| #1 Note to jihadis - infiltrate the security services, then you can load explosives into anyone's bag. The only downside is that you don't get blown up at the same time. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-01-06 06:12 |