Whiff Of Trouble

‘A MAJOR security alert was sparked off when a novelty dog toy which breaks wind as it bends over set off an explosives detector at a US airport.

Armed security staff sprang into action after something in the dog’s ‘wind breaking’ mechanism apparently registered as high explosive TNT on their equipment at Norfolk airport in Virginia.

Owner Dave Rogerson, 31, from Leeds, was grilled by FBI agents and looked on in amazement as they took a series of swabs from the replica animal’s rear end. They eventually returned the dog but stopped Mr Rogerson taking his planned flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, and rerouted him via Philadelphia.

‘They told me its was the highest reading they had for explosives and they took it very seriously,’ said Mr Rogerson. ‘They were very jumpy and convinced there was something explosive in the dog.’

He said the situation was made worse because he had placed his passport and boarding card under the dog as it passed through the sensor machine. When the agents demanded his papers he had to tell them they were in the isolation zone around the dog.’

Posted: 27th, October 2003 | In: Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink