Kevin Brown, a 32 year-old Jamaican citizen, was arrested yesterday at the Orlando International Airport for trying to board on an Air Jamaica plane with a luggage full of bomb-making materials.
Airport security was informed by a “behavior detection officer” about the Jamaican’s suspicious behavior and decided to detain him before checking his luggage for the flight.
The strange behavior was also noticed by others. Witnesses say the man was rocking in all directions, acting very instable, so the check-up did not come as a surprise.
A statement was given to the Associated Press by the FBI officials on the content of the bag: "two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers containing BB's, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid, laptop, and bomb-making literature."
Jamaica’s prime minister ordered a complete police investigation as a trial date was set for today, April 2, and Brown is now being held at the Polk Correctional Facility in Seminole County.
Even though passengers were evacuated from the airport terminal and 11 flights were delayed, Air Jamaica’s executive director declared that the items found in Kevin Brown’s luggage could not have caused an explosion and the plane, passengers and airport were not, at any moment, in any real danger.
On the bright side, the incident showed that the new plans for airport security involving TSA screeners were a good add-on and the crisis protocol was followed to the letter.
"The system that we have in place worked," said Carolyn Fennell, a spokeswoman for the airport. "We isolated the bags, we identified the person, and they were taken into custody. The situation was evaluated, and we had the support of many agencies," as quoted by 13 Central Florida News.