AIRLINE SECURITY - Four detained at DFW after box cutter found

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Associated Press Tuesday, November 6, 2001

GRAPEVINE -- Federal immigration agents have taken into custody four men who identified themselves as Armenian musicians after a box cutter was confiscated from one of them inside a secure area of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

None of the men had immigration documents in their possession. The four will be placed in removal proceedings pending positive identification, federal authorities said Monday.

It was the second reported breach of airport security during the weekend. On Saturday, most airport concourses were shut down after a man slipped into a secure area through an emergency door. An airport search did not find the man.

In the latest security breach, the four Armenians were detained because immigration documentation could not be found for three of them, said Lynn Ligon, a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman in Dallas. The Justice Department later said there was no documentation on any of the men.

Investigators said they do not believe the men intended to harm anyone. The box cutter was found inside carry-on luggage.

The four had tickets for a flight to Los Angeles from Dallas-Fort Worth, said Kimberly King, a Delta Air Lines spokeswoman. They had succeeded in passing through one security checkpoint at the ticket counter before the box cutter was found at a second checkpoint near Gate 16 in Terminal E.

"Obviously, if anyone managed to get a weapon past the initial security point, that is a breach of security," said Maj. Keil Hubert, a National Guard spokesman. "But I understand that person was picked up on a secondary search and was taken into custody with no difficulty whatsoever."

After the box cutter was found, the FBI interviewed the men. No airport operations were interrupted.

"The guy's explanation for having the box cutter was he needed it to cut the reeds on an instrument," said FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey.

She said the agency's investigation was finished.

On Saturday night, authorities closed airport terminals A, B and C for about two hours when a patron opened a restaurant emergency door, allowing a man to enter the Terminal C secure area between 7 and 8 p.m. While dogs searched the terminals, hundreds of passengers were moved to nonsecured areas. Departing flights were grounded, and arriving flights were kept from parking at the gates.

Hubert said such emergency doors cannot be locked, and it was unclear whether security officials will watch them more closely.

"It's a one-way door with a panic bar on it to make sure people can get out safely if something happens," said Hubert.

He said the Federal Aviation Administration was considering whether to pursue criminal charges against the man who opened the door.

"They haven't told us if they think it was premeditated or accidental," he said.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Answers

No, reeds are cut with a fine cane knife. A box cutter would wreck the balance. I learned that from a housemate who was a music major, who used to make her own oboe reeds.

Methinks another incident may have been avoided.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001


the report didn't say they were good musicians.

maybe they should have been required to play something. Then the authorities would know right away if they were lying.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001


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