Listening to MSNBC now.

Flight originated in Argentina. Discovered in Houston. Aircraft in Newark now.


Edited to add:

FBI: Dynamite Found in Baggage

HOUSTON - A suspicious item found in a piece of baggage at Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday was dynamite, officials told KPRC Local 2. Officials said a suspicious item was found during a secondary luggage check at about 7 a.m., about an hour after the Continental Airlines flight arrived from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Officials said the item was found during a routine search with a K-9 unit.

Authorities conducted an investigation and found residue from an explosive device on the checked bag.

"Contents of the luggage did contain an explosive component," said Mark Mancuso, deputy director of public safety and technology for the Houston Airport System. "It is a very small amount of explosives, sufficient enough to where it was not necessary to use the threat containment unit that was available. It was carried out by the Houston Police Department and sent for laboratory analysis."

Investigators matched the bag to a 19-year-old college student from Connecticut.

The student was detained at 7 a.m. and questioned, officials said.

Officials said the student told them he was touring mine fields in Buenos Aires and bought the item as an artifact.

Travelers said the student should have known better.

on MSNBC

wnbc.com

Flight Lands In Newark After Dynamite Found In Luggage

HOUSTON -- A college student's checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight to Houston from Argentina on Friday contained dynamite, and federal authorities are investigating why he had it and what he intended to do with it, an FBI spokeswoman said.
"Certainly we are doing a thorough investigation and trying to find out what this individual's intention was in trying to bring dynamite here," FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said Friday.
The dynamite was found during a luggage search in a federal inspection station at Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly after Continental Flight 52 landed about 6 a.m. Friday. Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System, said a bomb-sniffing dog "had a hit" on explosive residue during a further search.
She said Customs and Border Patrol and the FBI shut down the customs area and began questioning the passenger who had the luggage. The identity and age of the passenger, a man, were not released.
Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria said the man told fire officials that he works in mining and often handles explosives, so that would explain the residue. He said federal officials were investigating whether the man's explanation was true, and the fire department's role in the probe ended upon determining the man's bag did not contain a bomb.
Dunlap declined to release specifics, but confirmed that the explosive was dynamite. She said authorities were "sifting through facts" and would release more information as the investigation progresses.
Dunlap also said the man was from Connecticut and attends Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.
Continental spokeswoman Julie King said the CBP contacted the carrier when the dog detected the explosive. She said the flight left Buenos Aires, Argentina, and had 173 passengers onboard.
McClinton said the explosive was removed from the airport and the incident caused no airport disruptions.
After departing Houston, Flight 52 was kept from the terminal when it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey about 1:40 p.m., said Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the airport's operator.
"It's been brought to a secure area of the airport for some additional security screening. Passengers are being bused to the terminal," La Vorgna said. "It had nothing to do with any individual passengers, from what I understand. This is more precautionary than anything else."
The Port Authority later said Continental Flight 52 was searched at Newark Liberty International Airport and nothing was found.

They found the dynamite in Houston in the customs hall but then stopped the aircraft in Newark for special screening?

This really belongs in TS&S, not the CO forum...

Xyzzy
CO forum moderator

I thought that it was an AA plane to ORD to Manchester....

I'm confused. Was there dynamite or just residue? If the fire department left because there wasn't a bomb, was there in fact even dynamite?

Marc

The way I read it, is that there was no dynamite on the man's carry-on bag, but there was dynamite in the checked luggage.

I stand corrected...it was CO, strange situation.

If there was dynamite, then this is finally one event that makes sense in all this madness.

I'm confused too ... if there was dynamite found, why wasn't the plane screened iat IAH before heading on to EWR? It doesn't make sense to send a plane on a flight, THEN screen it.

The news stories on this incident make little sense. Was it dynamite or simply residue?

The plane was sent to EWR because every one knows EWR's ID checkers are the meanest.

Actually this still makes little sense because most of the cargo on the plane is never screened.

Probably made them go thru Terminal A (aka the Dumpster) too.

from http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/25/jet....ap/index.html right now:

What can someone do with 'residue'?

I know what Comrades Hawley and Chertoff can do with all these diversions and where they can both go.

Comrade Lip Pawley, Spokeshole for the Terrorism Support Agency:

"We did not get any false positives for explosives in IAH, so we rescreened all the bags in EWR. Sooner or later, the layers of the system work."

I wonder how many diversions the airlines will stand before someone screams enough.