Posted on 08/18/2006 3:46:17 AM PDT by DannyTN
CEREDO, W.Va. - A West Virginia airport terminal was evacuated Thursday after two bottles of liquid found in a woman's carry-on luggage twice tested positive for explosives residue, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said.
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Chemical tests later Thursday turned up no explosives in the bottles, said Capt. Jack Chambers, head of the State Police Special Operations unit. The airport was reopened after nearly 10 hours.
"It looks like there were four items containing liquids," said TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter. A machine that security checkpoint screeners use to test for explosives registered positive results for two containers, and a canine team also got a positive hit, she said.
The TSA screening looks for a range of explosives residue, some of which can be found on common household items, said TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser.
Airport manager Larry Salyers said he was told the woman was a 28-year-old of Pakistani descent who had moved to West Virginia from Jackson, Mich.
No charges were filed against the woman, who was taken from the airport by federal authorities at 5 p.m., Salyers said.
The woman was cooperative, officials said.
The woman's mother told the Associated Press that her daughter, who is four months pregnant and lives in Barboursville, W.Va., was targeted because of her nationality and Islamic headcover.
"It was not only a false alarm, it was racial discrimination because there was nothing," Mian Qayyum said, refusing to name her daughter.
"She just had water to drink because she is pregnant and she had a face wash that had a drop of bleach on it," Qayyum said from her home in Jackson.
The FBI did not immediately return messages Thursday night seeking comment on the racial profiling allegations.
A screener noticed a bottle in a woman's carry-on bag as she was going through security before her 9:15 a.m. flight to Charlotte, N.C., said Tri-State Airport Authority President Jim Booton.
One bottle contained a gel-type facial cleanser, FBI spokesman Jeff Killeen said.
"Anytime a prohibited item is brought to a checkpoint, then you are going to be immediately more interested in that bag," Kayser said.
The woman had purchased a one-way ticket to Detroit by way of Charlotte on Wednesday, Salyers said.
The flight was allowed to leave for Charlotte, and the terminal was evacuated at 11:25 a.m., officials said.
Commercial airline service was suspended, and about 100 passengers and airport employees were ordered to leave the terminal, Booton said.
Two airlines — Comair and US Airways Express — serve the airport.
After the evacuation, many passengers decided to stay and wait it out.
"We bought them pizza, soft drinks ... tried to make them comfortable as could be in this situation," Salyers said. "We had them in the parking lot, under trees, in conference rooms, the firehouse."
U.S. authorities banned the carrying of liquids onto flights last week after British officials made arrests in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes using explosives disguised as drinks and other common products.
Joy and John Cloutre of Ulysses, Ky., were waiting to begin the first leg of their trip to the southeast Asian country of Brunei when the evacuation order came.
Joy Cloutre told the Herald Dispatch of Huntington that her family didn't want her to leave because of terrorism in the region. "And then we don't even get out of Huntington without something like this happening."
Interesting. Thanks for posting. BTTT!
The terrorists are testing screening to see how they can get explosives on board. The lady is terrorists, pure and simple. But they will probably let her go. With the amount of activity expect a real attempt soon.
They might have been testing to see if they could get the items through and/or the reaction to women with babies. If someone handled explosives and then the bottles that would put enough material on the bottles for a positive test.
A dry run, for sure.
They keep probing our defenses like any army would.
F-B-I spokesman Jeff Killeen says further tests will be conducted. He says officials want to know exactly what the bottles contain.
So would the general public.
At the very least, you really have to ask if this "red flag" behavior -- carrying liquids after the recent well-publicized terror plot, purchase of a one-way ticket -- is not "in your face" behavior designed to antagonize and gain victimhood status in the media, or is it the all-too-familiar muslim refusal to acknowledge the societal rules of the western countries they chose to inhabit?
According to the woman's mother quoted in the above link, she was carrying drinking water because she is pregnant. Sounds reasonable, until you consider that airlines readily supply water to passengers, so why would she need -- especially under current threat conditions -- to carry her own?
It wouldn't surprise me if the terrorists started sending people through to get a number of false alarms. They could then accuse racial/religious profiling in order to soften defences. This may not be the case here, but you never know. From what I've read, threats of racial profilig and lawsuits kept airlines from exercising common sense on 9/11.
Yesterday's thread concluded with the TSA saying they found "residue" on the bottles and that's why the machine and dogs alerted...but then went on to say any nitrate could trigger the alert.
Pakistani woman (obviously Musliim headcovering), one way ticket purchased a day before, bottles of "stuff" (excuses for reasons carrying make-up when it is on the no-no list), going to Detroit...sorry but if that doesn't scream "warning", I don't know what does.
They had every right to "check out" the situation.
"targeted because of her nationality and Islamic headcover."
This is how they plan to destroy our defenses. They will use our total paranoia over profiling to cry racism and other garbage and then sneak through. After they are successful, they won't care if their cries of racism are proven worthless.
ping
Hey,Battle Axe ! I see you're back from your "chopping trip".
Yep. I'm still in circulation.
Yup, nationality and headgear should guarantee a full body cavity search.
Duh! That's unclean Infidel water!
If you can't smuggle it in your carry on ....
"So would the general public."
I happen to know first-hand a couple of different not-unusual foods or ingredients that reliably set off the explosive detector. They just happen to be in some local stuff I usually pick up in my travels here and there.
This woman is trying to play the race card. (Probably part of the overall terrorist strategy.) When the swab is positive, the TSA guys stiffen up a little, but then they give you the once-over, check your bags thoroughly, find nothing, and send you on your way.
Which is why I have to disagree with you. If the terrorists know what sets off the explosive detectors (which sounds like what she's trying to do here), it's five minutes of down-time for each TSA guy chasing false positives. They'll use any scheme to screw with us.
Why the heck not?! This muslim smuggled in banned items and her actions directly led to the closure of this airport. Why was she not charged?
Thanks, I probably do. I heard the story of the woman muttering and went specifically looking for plane stories this morning, and this thread is the only one I found.
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