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."

FMI: www.dhs.com