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College student says he was trying to expose security weaknesses ... A North Carolina college student who hid box cutters on airplanes to expose weaknesses in airline security was sentenced Thursday to two years of supervised probation and fined $500. Nathaniel Heatwole of Damascus, Md., a student at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., also must serve 100 hours of community service and reimburse his parents for up to $500 in legal expenses under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm.

Columnists' Corner "More Box Cutters! " By Gary Aldrich All those folks who sent me scolding messages about how Nathaniel Heatwole, the 20-year-old college student who bragged about bringing box cutters aboard an aircraft, is really a hero whistleblower, should be hanging their heads in shame. I declared that law enforcement authorities should throw the book at him because if they didn’t, others would soon copy him to get their 15 minutes of fame. Well, here we go. More box cutters were found on board two US Airways airplanes in Boston and Philadelphia, according to law enforcement authorities. The...

All those folks who sent me scolding messages about how Nathaniel Heatwole, the 20-year-old college student who bragged about bringing box cutters aboard an aircraft, is really a hero whistleblower, should be hanging their heads in shame.  I declared that law enforcement authorities should throw the book at him because if they didn’t, others would soon copy him to get their 15 minutes of fame.Well, here we go. More box cutters were found on board two US Airways airplanes in Boston and Philadelphia, according to law enforcement authorities.  The FBI and Transportation Security Administration are investigating how the box cutters...

<p>WASHINGTON -- US Representative Edward J. Markey of Malden said yesterday that a 20-year-old college student's success in putting box cutters aboard two airplanes shows that America's air safety system has major flaws. "Perfection may be unachievable, but mediocrity is unacceptable," Markey, a Democrat, said on CNN's "Late Edition."</p>

<p>October 27, 2003 -- GREENSBORO, N.C. - The college student facing a federal weapons charge for hiding boxcutters on airplanes is back in class. Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, returned Thursday night to Guilford College, according to a friend, Jeff Ebert. Heatwole's lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.</p>

GREENSBORO -- Nat Heatwole doesn't look as though he would attract much attention. Clean-cut, conservatively dressed and unfailingly polite, the 20-year-old college student would blend into the background altogether if he weren't so successful at what he does. He certainly didn't attract the attention of federal airport security screeners at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Sept. 12, when he boarded an airplane with a plastic bag full of hoax weapons and left it in the plane's lavatory. He was arrested last week and charged with a federal offense after telling authorities he had smuggled box cutters and other potentially dangerous...

<p>A 20-year-old college student just made a mockery of Uncle Sam's 50,000 member airport security army. Nathaniel Heatwole of Damascus, Md., carried concealed weapons — including box cutters and dummy explosives — onto two flights, stashing the goods on airplanes where they remained hidden for many subsequent flights.</p>

It’s airport security again, and this case is really twisted.  Twenty-year-old Nathaniel Travis Heatwole of Damascus, Maryland has been charged by the Feds with carrying deadly material onto commercial airliners.  If proven guilty, the charges could result in a 10-year sentence.He claims that what he did was an act of civil disobedience, designed to show the world just how weak our defenses still are with respect to keeping terrorists and their weapons off our planes.  The embarrassing part is that he has been trying to confess to these federal crimes for a month, but it seems nobody at the Transportation...

<p>For the life of me, I cannot understand why everyone is dumping on 20-year-old Nathaniel Heatwole, the kid who somehow managed to plant box cutters and other nefarious items on two airplanes.</p> <p>Now he faces 10 years in the slammer. For what? For embarrassing some people?</p>

WASHINGTON - Box cutters and other dangerous items remained on a pair of Southwest Airlines jets for five weeks even though the college student who smuggled them aboard sent federal authorities a signed e-mail detailing what he had done, according to court papers unsealed on Monday. The incident raises troubling new questions about airport security after the government has spent billions of dollars trying to strengthen procedures after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During a visit to Duke University on Monday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge called the latest incident "a bad experience." "But we may learn something about...

WASHINGTON - Box cutters and other dangerous items remained on a pair of Southwest Airlines jets for five weeks even though the college student who smuggled them aboard sent federal authorities a signed e-mail detailing what he had done, according to court papers unsealed on Monday. The incident raises troubling new questions about airport security after the government has spent billions of dollars trying to strengthen procedures after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During a visit to Duke University on Monday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge called the latest incident "a bad experience." "But we may learn something about...

BALTIMORE (AP) — A college student who allegedly hid box cutters and other banned items on four airliners to expose weaknesses in U.S. security was charged with a federal crime Monday, and a prosecutor said he committed a "very serious and foolish action." The banned items were not discovered on two of the planes until a month after Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, had alerted authorities about his scheme via e-mail. He was charged Monday with taking a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft, then released without bail for a preliminary hearing Nov. 10. On Sept. 15, federal authorities received an e-mail from...

A college student told federal authorities he placed box cutters and other banned items aboard two Southwest Airlines planes nearly five weeks before they were found, according to an FBI affidavit. The affidavit, obtained by The Associated Press, said Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, told agents he went through normal security procedures at airports in Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and was able to carry the forbidden items onto the planes. Once aboard, he hid the items in a compartment in the rear lavatories of two planes. The first bag was carried on in Raleigh-Durham on Sept. 12 — the day after the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Legal proceedings were expected Monday in a federal court in Baltimore against a college student who the FBI believes hid box cutters and other banned items aboard two Southwest Airlines planes, the agency said. Government prosecutors still were trying to determine what charges they might bring against Nathaniel T. Heatwole. The 20-year-old student had warned officials he would try to bring forbidden articles onto commercial flights to expose holes in security, an official said.A federal law enforcement official confirmed Saturday that investigators are interviewing Heatwole, of Greensboro, N.C., to learn how he got through airport screeners while...

WASHINGTON Oct. 18 — The man suspected of hiding box cutters on two airline flights warned the government in an e-mail of his intention to conceal similar suspicious items on six planes and provided dates and locations for the plan, but was not considered a threat, a senior Bush administration official said Saturday. Federal authorities "reviewed the correspondence and determined this individual did not pose an imminent threat to national security," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. No charges have been announced, the man's identity has not been disclosed by the government and FBI statement said legal...

Student quizzed in US airline scare Thousands of planes are being checked A North Carolina student has admitted placing box cutters and other suspicious items on two Southwest Airlines planes, officials say. The admission reportedly came during questioning of the 20-year-old man by US federal investigators in Baltimore, Maryland. Security checks were ordered for every commercial airliner in the US after the items were discovered. The student had informed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that he planned to put packages on planes in an effort to expose gaps in aviation security, a congressional official told the Associated Press. "It doesn't...

<p>October 18, 2003 -- A prankish terror scare on two Southwest Airlines jets prompted the FAA to order searches of every commercial airliner yesterday - and soon afterward, the FBI had a suspect in custody. A 20-year-old North Carolina man was being questioned by the FBI in Baltimore - site of a major Southwest hub - in connection with the incidents, said a congressional official and a senior law enforcement official, who both spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>

FBI Questions Man on Box Cutters in Planes By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The government on Friday ordered intensified security checks of the entire U.S. commercial air fleet after small plastic bags containing box cutters and other suspicious items were found on two Southwest Airlines planes. A 20-year-old North Carolina man was being questioned by the FBI in connection with the incidents, according to a congressional official and a senior law enforcement official, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. The congressional official said the man, described as a college student, had informed the Transportation Security...

CNN and Fox just announced there is a suspect in custody in Balitmore. That is all they said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All commercial aircraft will be searched by U.S. security personnel within the next 24 hours after the discovery of box cutters, bleach and other items aboard two Southwest Airlines Inc. planes, federal law enforcement officials said on Friday. They said the FBI, working with the Department of Homeland Security, is investigating the discovery of the box cutters, bleach and other items found late on Thursday in plastic bags on the planes that landed in Houston and New Orleans. Box cutters were used as a weapon by the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. The search of all aircraft...