Fake explosives shut down Illinois airport
Wednesday, 01 Apr, 2016
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A woman who trains employees how to spot suspicious packages and explosives at work caused the partial evacuation of an airport when attempting to take the fake explosives through TSA screening.
Agents discovered a number of suspicious items which resembled two sticks of dynamite, an aerosol can and a jar filled with liquid.
Part of the Peoria International Airport was cleared for about three hours and a bomb disposal team was called.
It turned out the items were indeed fake. The sticks of ‘dynamite’ are actually fetch toys for a dog.
The owner of the offending items was named as Michelle Davidson of Maryland, who earlier had used the items to train staff at a local abortion clinic.
Davidson works for the National Abortion Federation and travels the country conducting training sessions.
She was questioned by police and the FBI before being released without charge.
Airport authorities were unsurprisingly annoyed.
"You let the airline know and then everybody knows so that nobody gets alarmed. All she had to do is mention she had some unusual things in her bag and if she had shown that to the airline ahead of time this probably all would not have happened," said director of Peoria Airport Gene Olson.
She reportedly said to investigators that she has traveled with the equipment on flights before.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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