Lesson One: Don’t Lose the Explosives
The Boston Globe reports that an antiterrorism drill went awry Wednesday night. In a training exercise at Boston’s Logan Airport, the State Police hid 8 ounces of plastic explosive on the rear bumper of a Massport pickup truck to test bomb-sniffing dogs and handlers.
However, a Massport employee, unaware of the drill, moved the truck and the explosive either fell off or was stolen. The State Police are investigating, but say that the explosive is useless without a detonator. The explosive has a State Police label and a “Do not Touch” warning.
The Boston Herald provided a different perspective. Bruce Schneier, author of such books as Applied Crypography and Beyond Fear(We think everything he wrote is wonderful), and a noted security expert, commented, “I mean, c’mon people. If you’re going to run a security drill like this you can’t lose the explosive.” It is very embarassing that they can’t even keep track of their own explosives during a regulated drill. None of the police involved noticed the truck being moved.
It remains, as the Herald concluded, as lost as luggage.
Posted: September 11th, 2006 under Boston - Logan Airport, Security Roundup.
Comments
Pingback from Giving Up the Ship » Blog Archive » Logan’s Zeroes
Time September 12, 2006 at 6:14 pm
[...] We were both amused and disturbed to learn recently from Flight Wisdom of a recent incident at Logan Airport in Boston. It seems that as part of a security drill, 8 ounces of potent plastic explosive were attatched to the bumper of a vehicle in a secure parking area. Over a week later the explosives have still not been found. During the test, a Massport employee, unaware of the drill, got into the vehicle and drove off. Nearly 10 minutes later, and a mile and a half away, the truck was found, sans explosive. Despite exhaustive searches of the airport propeincluding the dismantling of a street sweeper, the explosive remain missing. State Police assure us that without a detanator the explosives pose little threat. [...]
Pingback from Flight Wisdom » More Than 10 Ways to Avoid 9/11
Time September 11, 2006 at 8:21 pm
[...] Lesson One: Don’t Lose the Explosives [...]