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Home Front: WoT

Stick of Dynamite Found in Checked Luggage

2006-08-26

HOUSTON (AP) - A stick of dynamite was found in a college student's checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina, one of seven security incidents Friday that caused U.S. flights to be diverted, evacuated, searched or delayed.

Howard McFarland Fish, 21, was charged with carrying an explosive aboard an aircraft and was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal authorities have determined that his actions were not acts of terrorism, ICE spokeswoman Luisa Deason said in a statement. Fish is a psychology student at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., said Roger Clow, the college's director of communications.

Just a dumb college kid, or one who recently experienced a conversion?

Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria said Fish told authorities he works in mining and often handles explosives. Longoria said federal officials were investigating whether the explanation was true.

A psych major works in mining. O-k-k-k-kay.

Bill Waldock, aviation safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, said the incident could have been disastrous and raises questions about security in overseas airports. Dynamite can be unstable if it's old, he added. "You're in a pressurized airplane, you get a detonation in the cargo hold, it could blow a hole in the airplane big enough to bring it down," he said.

The dynamite was found during a luggage search in a federal inspection station at Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly after Flight 52 landed at about 6 a.m. Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System, said ICE officials and the FBI shut down the customs area and began questioning Fish, one of 173 passengers on the flight.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston said Fish, of Connecticut, would appear before a federal magistrate Monday. Carrying an explosive aboard an aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Posted by:Steve White

#13 Or they could be trying to overwhelm the system with numerous false positives, causing a drop in efficiency and laudable caution. THEN they send in the real kamikazees.

Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-08-26 20:25

#12 If they practice enough, SR-71, eventually they'll get it right?

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-26 14:36

#11 dry runs?

Posted by: Shush Sholuth7794 2006-08-26 14:11

#10 #1 I swear, I thought it was a penis pump...
Posted by Howard McFarland Fish

Inspector: It says here on the receipt one penis pump and one dynamite stick made out to ...

It says here on the credit card record, one penis pump and one dynamite stick made out to ...

Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-08-26 13:11

#9 It sounds like physical chemistry, TW. We used to say that a practicing physical chemist was the guy who loaded the drums on the truck.

Posted by: SR-71 2006-08-26 12:28

#8 Ohhh, I hated statistics at a visceral level back in my student days! As the child of a research scientist I simply had to ask the professor, "So how do we know this is true?" expecting fascinating tales of studies done by bearded proto-statisticians in the 18th and 19th centuries, to match the chemists and biologists. But noooo -- the professor's pert answer was, "Well, it seems to work so far!" To heap insult on mental injury, when [the future] Mr. Wife the engineering student took the same course the following semester he went through the textbook exclaiming, "Oh!" and "Of course!". That's how the world works, he explained, only he'd never had just the formula to formalize it before. And I didn't hit him for it, not even once.

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-26 11:50

#7 Always bring your own bomb on a flight. The probability of two bombs on any plane approaches zero. (First year Psych Statistics 101)

Posted by: john 2006-08-26 08:19

#6 A stick of dynamite was found in a college student's checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina

This is what happens when you let an escaped Nazi war criminal pack your suitcase.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-26 04:37

#5 It's pretty hard to pack a wildcatter's cigar by accident.

"Lesse ... Plane Ticket, check! Shaving kit, check! Clean underwear, check! Stick of dynamite, check! Passport, check! ..."

Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-26 04:34

#4 Fred, I think this young man found your lost fishing gear.

Posted by: GK 2006-08-26 03:58

#3 He's 21. It was a stunt and he's both a moron and an asshole. Nail his ass to the wall.

Posted by: flyover 2006-08-26 02:27

#2 Wha...doesn't everyone carry a stick of kapoowee when they take a flight?

Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-26 02:21

#1 I swear, I thought it was a penis pump...

Posted by: Howard McFarland Fish 2006-08-26 00:14

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