FBI: Man Flew Into LaGuardia With Firecracker

WCBSTV.com ^ | Dec 28, 2009 4:42 pm US/Eastern | n/a

[Cindy]

"FBI: Man Flew Into LaGuardia With Firecracker"

"Passenger Taken Into Custody After Device Found Wedged Between Seats On Piedmont Airlines Flight Into LaGuardia"

NEW YORK (CBS)

SNIPPET: "A passenger who flew into LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night was questioned by FBI agents after allegedly boarding the flight with an explosive device in his possession, CBS 2 has learned.

Officials confirmed Monday that a crew member on board Piedmont Airlines flight 4126, originating from Baltimore Washington International Airport, was cleaning the plane after it landed in New York around 7:30 p.m. when he found a large firecracker-like device wedged between two seats. Port Authority officials contacted FBI agents, and the passenger from that seat location, identified as 67-year-old Thomas Ouelette, of Bonita Springs, Fla., was tracked down and taken into custody.

Ouelette was planning on taking a connecting flight to Fort Myers, Fla. from New York.

Authorities did not release details on the kind of device discovered other than saying it was a 4-inch-long, three-quarter-inch-wide explosive pyrotechnic.

Federal officials said they did not believe terrorism was involved, but that Ouelette already had two outstanding warrants in Florida for "unlawful flight."

There is no word yet as to whether Ouelette was charged with a crime, however he was issued a summons by the FBI. Sources said the man claimed the firecracker fell out of his bag and he didn't even know he had it.

Piedmont is a subsidiary of US Airways."

[Cindy]

SNIPPET from post no. 1:

"Authorities did not release details on the kind of device discovered other than saying it was a 4-inch-long, three-quarter-inch-wide explosive pyrotechnic."

[MetaThought]

Yup, that form factor is highly suggestive.

[Cindy]

Note: Photo included.

#

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/dec/28/bonita-springs-pyrotechnic-device-new-york/

“Firecracker found on plane linked to Estero man”
By RYAN MILLS
Posted December 28, 2009 at 3:51 p.m. , updated December 28, 2009 at 7:25 p.m.

SNIPPET: “Thomas Ouellette, 67, was issued a federal summons on Sunday after authorities say he left a “pyrotechnic device” on an airplane at La Guardia airport in New York.

Ouellette flew from Baltimore to New York, where he was then catching a flight home to Florida, authorities said.”

SNIPPET: ““The flight crew was doing a routine sweep of the aircraft after the passengers deplaned in La Guardia, and they found a firecracker on the passenger’s seat,” said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.”

SNIPPET: “The flight crew notified authorities from the TSA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who searched the plane and found nothing else of concern. Authorities said the “pyrotechnic device” was not of the exploding variety.”

[Cindy]

NOTE: Video included.

http://www.winknews.com/news/local/80247407.html

“Bonita Springs man explains how he left a firecracker on plane at LaGuardia”
By WINK News
Story Created: Dec 29, 2009 at 12:19 AM EST
Story Updated: Dec 29, 2009 at 12:19 AM EST

SNIPPET: “The FBI questioned a Bonita Springs man after he left a firecracker on a US Airways plane in New York.

Thomas Ouellette...”

SNIPPET: “Ouellette says the firework had been in his bag for at least five years and he had forgotten all about it. He believes it must have slipped out when a flight attendant handed him his suitcase.

Ouellette says he unknowingly brought the firecracker with him aboard more than a dozen flights and it has flown around the world with him. Nobody has ever stopped him for the firework.”

[Victor]

Four inches long and 3/4" wide?

That ain't no firecracker....

[AFPhys]

Well, personally, I can imagine something like this happening to me... I’ve carried firecrackers around in baggage in the past and many is the time that I’ve just tossed things into the case for a trip without cleaning out miscellaneous items in there from the previous trip. Add a zippered pocket to the baggage, and voila- something embarrassing may fall out. It has occurred to me in the past. However, I am glad that in this environment I haven’t had to explain a firecracker on an airline - it is hard enough to explain a rubber.

[Squantos]

Yep.