Posted on 12/22/2004 1:12:58 PM PST by Spyder
"This is evidence of why we recommend passengers to remove their shoes, because we need to X-ray (them)." Sidney Hayakawa Honolulu federal security director of the Transportation Security Administration
By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com
The Stafford-brand, size 10 1/2, black dress shoes looked common enough.
But it was the box-cutter blade glued inside one of the shoes that caught the attention of security personnel at Honolulu Airport's Interisland Terminal yesterday.
The 33-year-old man who put his shoes through the screening process now faces a felony charge of attempting to board an airplane with a dangerous, concealed weapon. He's being held at the Federal Detention Center.
The Fairfax, Va., resident was on his way to visit relatives on Kauai with his wife and four children on a midday Aloha Airlines flight, according to Sidney Hayakawa, Honolulu federal security director of the Transportation Security Administration.
The man, who works for a computer software company, placed his shoes in a plastic bin for screening. One of the screeners detected a metal object in the suspect's left shoe and alerted a supervisor, who determined it was a blade.
Hayakawa said state sheriffs and a federal agent responded and found a 3 1/2- to 4-inch blade in the inner sole of the shoe.
"The sole was still glued," Hayakawa said.
"This is evidence of why we recommend passengers to remove their shoes, because we need to X-ray (them)," he said.
Contraband is usually detected in carry-on bags or a passengers' pockets, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. Sometimes, passengers forget something in their pocket or something left on their key chain, Ishikawa said.
"But the razor was in the shoe. It made us suspicious about the whole incident," he said.
There were no disruptions to operations at the airport during and following the incident, officials said.
"I don't think any of the passengers realized what took place," Hayakawa said.
Would it be too much to ask that this guy's ethnicity be released? Based on the apparent blackout, I'm assuming he's Muslim.
In this current post 9-11 enviroment, all a guy with a box cutter on a plane is going to get is a royal ass kicking. Once he is subdued, passengers will line up to beat his ass somemore like they did to the hysterical woman in the movie "Airplane."
No name given. Probably a PC reason they did not give it, such as he has an obviously Muslim name. What else can we conclude?
FOX News had it in the scroll at the bottom of the screen this morning. Just man with blade in shoe arrested at airport.
"The sole was still glued," Hayakawa said.
I wouldn't convict him just yet.
Honolulu, HI, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A Virginia man was held in Hawaii Wednesday after a 3-inch box cutter blade was found concealed in his shoe at Honolulu International Airport.
Randall Rustick, 33, was trying to board an Aloha Airlines flight to Kauai with his wife and four children Tuesday when the discovery was made, KITV, Honolulu, said Wednesday.
It's the first time since the Transportation Security Administration began inspections in late 2002 that a passenger has been charged in Honolulu with the federal count of "attempting to board an aircraft with a dangerous, concealed weapon," said Sidney Hayakawa, federal security chief for the airport. "We don't know what his intent was, but it's the concealment that was very disturbing."
The Honolulu Advertiser said normally when screeners find an obviously forgotten forbidden object, the passenger is offered the chance to relinquish the item and given a warning.
"In this case, there was clearly an attempt to conceal it. That's what was different," Hayakawa said.
No flights were delayed by the incident.
I would like one of these gherbil-brained idiots from the TSA (our motto is "we get it right 25% of the time") to explain why they "recommend" that passengers remove shoes if they feel they need to x-ray them? Why not just say we "require" you to remove your shoes, since ultimately that is what they do. Just try not following their "recommendation" some time and see how much pain results.
They showed the blade on the local news last night - it was a refill type blade for an X-Acto knife - those suckers are mighty sharp, and the fact it was glued in his shoe.... weird story.
ping
Of course, none of these clowns would try to get their knives and such on the plane if everybody else on the plane weren't already disarmed, would they? One gun beats a bunch of knives every time.
I find it difficult to believe this guy is a terrorist, given that his wife and four children were going to fly with him.
Why on earth he would conceal a box cutter in his shoe beats me. The closest I can come to it was the example of a former colleague who always carried a couple of $20 bills in his shoe in case he was mugged, so he could get home. He had been mugged before and had his wallet taken.
It's just conceivable that this guy forgot that the box cutter was there when he went through the scanners. Stupid is as stupid does. He was probably too busy thinking of those sandy beaches.
Hmm. A more plausible explanation? Some worker was using a blade to cut the sole to shape and managed to lose it in the shoe? Like a surgeon who forgets to remove a scalpel after doing an operation?
I fly in and out of ORD and have never been required to remove my "travelling" shoes (topsiders, no steel shank). That will probably change now.
Only COS made me take them off for x-ray. Funny thing was that they too "recommended" I remove them. Until I got to the magnetometer and was told I'd be thoroughly inspected if I did not take them off.
Either it is recommended or it is required. If it is required, SAY SO!
Thanks! If TSA reads this I'll be surrendering my spectacles, credit cards, shoelaces, and reading material before boarding my next flight. I dread TSA finding out that all a dedicated terrorist need do to take down a plane is to turn on his cell phone in mid-flight.
-PJ
" It's just conceivable that this guy forgot that the box cutter was there when he went through the scanners. "
Uhh! What would possibly be the reason he had a blade 'glued' inside his shoe to begin with?
Was that sarcasm?
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