Botched security test leads to Dublin bomb scare...

[OneEyedTeddyMcGrew]

Slovakian police apologise over explosives
Wednesday, 6 January 2010 16:20

Slovakian police have apologised for a botched security test that led to explosives they planted in the luggage of an unsuspecting air traveller to be smuggled into Ireland.

'It was the mistake of a single policeman who forgot to remove the explosives after a dog found them during a security test at Poprad airport on Saturday,' border police chief Tibor Mako said.

'The explosives were attached by accident to the backpack of a 49-year-old Slovak electrician, who unknowingly brought them to his flat in Dublin,' Mr Mako said.
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'We are very sorry that a good effort to test the security of civilian air transport turned out so badly,' he added.

Mr Mako said the airport informed Dublin Airport through a telex during the flight and asked them to check the luggage of the passengers to find the explosive. He said the Irish airport failed to find the explosive.

The Slovakian Border Police have said that the pilot of the plane was informed about the explosive material in the man's luggage but decided to continue with the flight.

Communication sent to Servisair

This morning they released copies of a CITA document, which is an internal aviation communication.

The communication was, however, sent to the luggage handling agent Servisair, not to gardaí or the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Servisair has confirmed it received the CITA, which it described as 'a second class mail system'.

The DAA has said this afternoon that it had no contact whatsoever from authorities in Slovakia.

It said when a telephone call in relation to the issue was received yesterday morning, the DAA immediately alerted gardaí.

The DAA also said that none of the three addresses on the telex that was produced by Slovakian authorities today is a DAA address.

Mr Mako also said the Slovakian police then informed gardaí on Monday evening when the Slovakian citizen was also contacted.

However, RTÉ understands that gardaí were alerted yesterday morning.

During the operation, the adjoining homes and businesses were evacuated as the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit removed the explosive for further analysis.

Both Gardiner Street and Lower Dorset street were closed off for about an hour.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0106/dorset.html

So let me get this straight. The Slovakian government decides it's a good idea to plant FUCKING EXPLOSIVES into an innocent man to test out their security, then panic when he gets through on a flight to Dublin. Seriously, the level of incompetence in this, from the halfwits who planned it, to the security staff in both Ireland and Slovakia, to the pilot of the aeroplane, appears to be absolutely mind boggling. I'd hate to be the poor bastard who got a message saying he was carrying explosives and half the Gardaí in Dublin were out for his blood.

Bloody hell...

[Edward Yee]

Apparently the Slovak police told him about the hapless detainee and where to find the explosives but not the gardai, so the gardai ended up raiding his apartment.

Yahoo! News (AP?) version of mentioned that the French gov't once tried a similar test, also on an unwitting passenger... and the explosives went missing.

[Siege]

The Slovakians apparently planted plastic explosives (90 grams of the stuff). I'm no bomb expert but I do believe plastic explosives are supposed to be pretty stable and I think it's a fair bet the Slovakians didn't actually plant a detonator to go with the package, so the danger to the plane was minimal. Which is probably why the pilot decided to fly on.

[Chris OFarrell]

It is pretty fucked up that they couldn't PICK UP THE PHONE and call the proper people in Ireland to let them know what had happened, what bag it was, and have the issue sorted out when the person in question arrived.

Seriously, instead they send a TELEX? Not even a fax, certifiably not an email, but a TELEX? To warn them?

And they didn't even have the right address?!?!

That is so incredibly slack and incompetent its just not funny. And the aircraft's Captain, who was in the loop, also clearly didn't warn any authority when on approach about the situation and request the luggage be screened, or even just suggest that someone in Ireland call the proper authorities back in Slovakia to get them up to speed?

[wautd]

This just boggles the mind. What the hell where they thinking? I hope the people responsible for it won't get away with a mere slap on the wrist.

[Broomstick]

I'm not sure why you're ragging on the pilot - there was no detonator attached to the explosives, and short of that plastic explosives are pretty stable. In other words, this was not a bomb, just a bomb component that by itself isn't terribly hazardous. If you're halfway through the flight you might as well continue on to your destination in those circumstances, since the danger would be just as present if you turned around and went back where you started.

[folti78]

More information:

Slovak border police chief resigns over security exercise

The Slovak chief of border police, Tibor Mako, has resigned over a botched airport security exercise.

Stefan Gonda, 49, unwittingly carried explosives on a flight to Dublin after officials planted them in his luggage in a bid to test airport security.

Mr Mako said they were detected by a sniffer dog at Poprad-Tatry Airport but a policeman failed to remove them or to inform his supervisor.

Slovak officials claim they informed Dublin Airport of Mr Gonda's arrival.

But Dublin Airport says it had no contact from authorities in Slovakia, with the result that Mr Gonda left the airport unimpeded with the explosives in his bag.

Reports suggest the warning message was faxed from Slovakia to the luggage handling agent Servisair.

Irish authorities say it was not until Tuesday, three days after the flight, when Slovak border police told them to search for the explosives.


It was only then that Mr Gonda was arrested, and police cordoned off his flat near Dublin city centre while bomb experts examined the scene.

He was later released without charge.

Mr Mako's resignation was accepted by the Interior Minister, Robert Kalinak.

"What happened at Poprad airport was a stupid human error," Mr Kalinak told reporters.

"It is clearly an individual error not a system failure. Disciplinary proceedings against the policemen responsible are underway."

A spokesman for Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said it "beggared belief" that the man had been allowed to board the flight, the Irish Independent reported.

Mr Ahern said the security operation was a "bit of a fiasco", but added that the minister had accepted an apology from Slovakia's deputy prime minister and interior minister Robert Kalinak.

Opposition politicians in Slovakia have called for Mr Kalinak to resign as well.

Ivana Herkelova, director of Poprad-Tatry airport in north-east Slovakia, said the plane was on the runway when the error emerged but the pilot decided it was safe to fly.

No complaint

"I think that the foreign police units made a mistake here and the aircraft should have been prohibited from taking off," she told Slovak newspaper SME.

In a statement, the Dublin Airport Authority said it had no contact from the authorities in Slovakia until Tuesday.

Mr Gonda, a Slovakian electrician living in Dublin, was returning from his Christmas holidays.

His wife, Monika Gondova, told Slovak newspaper Pravda that he would not file a complaint against the police.

The explosives were among eight contraband items placed with passengers at Bratislava and Poprad-Tatry airports last weekend.

Slovak authorities were reportedly trying to test screening procedures for checked-in luggage by placing items with unwitting passengers.

Security experts condemned the planting of explosives in the luggage of a passenger, instead of using a police agent.

The Irish Army said passengers had not been put in danger because the explosives were stable and not connected to any essential bomb parts such as a detonator or power supply.

Airport security has been stepped up in many countries following an alleged plot to bomb an airliner over the US city of Detroit on 25 December, though it was not clear if the Slovak test was linked to such efforts.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/e ... 447846.stm

Published: 2010/01/08 11:38:14 GMT

© BBC MMX

Some added info which I only seen in the local(Hungarian and Slovakian Hungarian) media:
- Slovakian authorities claimed they routinely run these security exercises and they don't find it problematic because "other countries does the same". They not named any other countries other than France.
- The baggage handling company, whom the police sent the faxes were puzzled by the messages, but hadn't done anything.
- Brussels sent an letter of inquiry to Bratislava about the incident. They wait for the reply before saying anything.
- The scandal is growing inside Slovakia and heavily politicized due to the upcoming elections, along with other scandalous affairs of the government.*

* This morning the Slovakian truckers blocked a major road into Bratislava to protest again the new electronic road toll system(mandatory since Jan 1.) and high fuel prices. Heavy snowing worsened the resulting chaos. By afternoon they started to block other major cities too. There is another scandal regarding the Minister of Labour's questionable tendering activities.

[CmdrWilkens]

The Slovakians apparently planted plastic explosives (90 grams of the stuff). I'm no bomb expert but I do believe plastic explosives are supposed to be pretty stable and I think it's a fair bet the Slovakians didn't actually plant a detonator to go with the package, so the danger to the plane was minimal. Which is probably why the pilot decided to fly on.

As a point of emphasis on exercises it is not uncommon to literally burn chunks of C4 that come in sapper packs. It is nicely exothermic but without a sufficient detonating charge won't explode and throwing it in a regular old wood fire isn't enough. So without a detonator the material itself is essentially safe to transport without further complication.