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Home Front: WoT
Suspicious Liquid Found at W.Va. Airport
2006-08-18
"Testing... Testing... Can you detect me now?"
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, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said. "The bomb squad is on site and the woman is being interviewed by the FBI," Amy von Walter said.

“...the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich.”
A machine security checkpoint screeners use to test for explosives registered positive, and a canine team also got a positive hit, von Walter said. Airport manager Larry Salyers said the bottles would be moved by robot to a remote area of the airport where officials would attempt to detonate them. National Guard and State Police explosive experts will conduct chemical field tests to determine what's inside them, he said. Salyers said he was told the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich. He did not know how long she had lived in Huntington. The woman was still at the airport late Thursday afternoon, but was not under arrest, said FBI spokesman Jeff Killeen.

Commercial airline service was suspended at least until 5 p.m., and about 100 passengers and airport employees were ordered to leave the terminal, Tri-State Airport Authority President Jim Booton. A US Airways spokeswoman said one of its flights was diverted to Charleston's Yeager Airport about 60 miles away. A screener noticed a bottle in a woman's carry-on bag as she prepared to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C., Booton said. Salyers said she was eventually headed to Detroit.

Update: liquids were cosmetics (CBS News)

But law enforcement sources say the substances that tested positive were cosmetic-based products and not a threat CBS News reports.
Posted by:Fred

#16  I suggest they test the stuff on animals.
Posted by: JDB   2006-08-18 19:31  

#15  "Snakes on a Plane."
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-08-18 18:58  

#14  
Aw Honey, 80 gallons of Maybalene?
Posted by: 6   2006-08-18 18:01  

#13  lol, BigEd. Before I read the part about her being Paki, and seeing as how it was in a West VA airport, I immediately thought the moonshine runners had gotten busted again.

When in West Virginia, do as the hicks West Virginians do, lol.
Posted by: BA   2006-08-18 15:16  

#12  No doubt the unnamed Pak mule spends hours before the mirror coiffing herself before she dons the burka. And hard to believe none of the other American women who buy $29 Billion of this junk each year have ever set off the buzzer.


Look out for racially profiling - bomb sniffing German Shepherd...
RACIST DOG!

Posted by: BigEd   2006-08-18 13:58  

#11  If it's not that, and it's just a false positive, well, I'd rather have false positives than false negatives.
Posted by: Mike   2006-08-18 11:31  

#10  Probably an accurte analysis NS.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-08-18 11:25  

#9  Also, a lot of other manicure products besides nail polish remover have some pretty vile chemicals in them.

No doubt the unnamed Pak mule spends hours before the mirror coiffing herself before she dons the burka. And hard to believe none of the other American women who buy $29 Billion of this junk each year have ever set off the buzzer.

I think we're seeing a lot of catch, tag and release to try to find out where the mules are getting their orders from.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-08-18 11:15  

#8  Maybe facial bleach? I think that stuff might have peroxide in it. Also, a lot of other manicure products besides nail polish remover have some pretty vile chemicals in them.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-08-18 11:05  

#7  Here's a random guess. Nail polish remover is acetone, basically. The explosive used in London on 7/7/05 was (tri-)acetone (tri-)peroxide.
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2006-08-18 10:54  

#6  With a nod to #5: "How much can we get away with putting into this nail polish remover (or whatever) before it is detected?"

I'd want to get a sample of the same brand of cosmetics off the shelf and check the GC signature of each.
Posted by: eLarson   2006-08-18 10:37  

#5  Test run to determine sensitivity of our systems.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-08-18 09:49  

#4  lube?
Posted by: Howard UK   2006-08-18 08:47  

#3  This is so bizarre. What kind of chemicals could possible be found as a ingredient in cosmetics that would trigger a response for explosives.

Granted they were probably manufactured in Pakistan; and that in itself raises questions as does the previous points. But I have never heard of anything like it when the products were manufactured in the U.S, Europe or other western countries. I would have expected to have seen this a lot more often.

Any chemists out there have any ideas?
Posted by: Delphi2005   2006-08-18 08:31  

#2  I think the real story here is: A Pakistani woman uses cosmetics??? WTF?

Posted by: Cherelet Whiter2285   2006-08-18 04:04  

#1  "liquids were cosmetics"

I always knew that nitro was used for certain heart conditions, but I never knew it could hide those stubborn wrinkles!

Posted by: PBMcL   2006-08-18 01:09  

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