The latest "security test" news story:
Man Tried To Board Plane To Fla. With Blade In Shoe
A man was detained Tuesday after being allowed to take a flight despite having tried to board a plane with a knife in his carry-on luggage and a box cutter or razor in his shoe, authorities said.
The man, who was not immediately identified, was detained Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh while on his way from Erie to Fort Myers, Fla., said FBI spokesman Bill Crowley. It was unclear whether he would be charged with any crime, Crowley said.
Federal screeners in Erie found a diving knife in the man's carry-on bag and a metal object in his shoe, said David Bagnoni, police chief at Erie International Airport.
Federal screeners contacted airport police, who searched the man and confiscated the knife and a cutting tool hidden under a cushion in his shoe, Bagnoni said.
The man told an airport police officer the knife was in his bag because he was going on a diving trip. He said the tool in his shoe was likely planted by friends, Bagnoni said.
But Bagnoni said he believed the man was likely trying to test security, much like a 20-year-old Maryland college student who recently acknowledged smuggling box cutters and other banned items onto planes.
Bagnoni said airport police had little choice but to let the man continue on his flight because he didn't break any local or state laws and federal authorities had not requested that he be held.
Bagnoni characterized the incident as a procedural error that highlighted the evolving roles of law enforcement agencies since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"The problem lies in the gray area. It has been give and take since Sept. 11. Once we find a problem, we correct it," Bagnoni said.
In the future, Bagnoni said, people caught with items not allowed on flights would be held until federal authorities decide what to do with them.
http://www.local6.com/travelgetaways...22/detail.html