Airport stops suspected Germany-bound bomb

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A bit of breaking news

BERLIN — An Air Berlin flight from Namibia was delayed on Wednesday after police found a suitcase with a fuse in the luggage hall of the airport in the African country's capital, German authorities said.

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office said on Thursday that a scan showed batteries attached by wires to a fuse and a clock. They say authorities in Windhoek, Namibia, were investigating whether the device found Wednesday could have exploded.

German security officials told NBC News that they were in the process of assessing whether the device was "a fake bomb" or could have actually detonated.

An Air Berlin spokeswoman told The Associated Press, meanwhile, that no explosives were found in the bag. She said it was unclear which plane the suitcase was intended for, but all the Air Berlin luggage was rechecked and passengers identified their bags.

After a lengthy delay the plane was able to leave and arrived with all passengers in Munich Thursday morning.

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Steyr

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/18/349914/nature-of-suspect-device-unclear-after-ltu-a330-alert.html

Aircraft
DATE:18/11/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

Nature of suspect device unclear after LTU A330 alert
By David Kaminski-Morrow

Uncertainty surrounds the nature of the suspect device contained in an item of luggage due to be loaded on a Munich-bound Air Berlin flight at Windhoek yesterday.

Air Berlin notably states that the luggage was unlabelled, and that it could not be attributed to any specific flight or individual.

But the carrier adds that it is unable to determine whether the threat was genuine or whether the luggage had been part of a security test.

A spokeswoman for Air Berlin stresses that the luggage was "not on board" the Airbus A330, which was transporting 296 passengers and 10 crew, when the item was intercepted.

The twin-jet was being operated by Air Berlin's long-haul division LTU.

Germany's federal police authority, the Bundeskriminalamt, has stated that examination revealed a clock, batteries and a detonator, although it has not confirmed the presence of any explosive compound, or said whether the device was a viable weapon.

Nambia Airports Company could not immediately be reached for comment on the situation.

Timing of the discovery is particularly notable given that it coincided with a statement issued by German federal interior minister Thomas de Maiziere, citing evidence of an increased terrorist threat against Germany.

De Maiziere highlighted the concealment of explosive devices on board freight flights from the Middle East last month as testimony to the "adaptability and persistence" of perpetrators of terrorist activities.

German law-enforcement authorities have been instructed to tighten security at airports and rail stations.

De Maiziere says there is "cause for concern, but no reason for hysteria" but states that measures are being put in place aimed at prevention and deterrence.

Last month's interception of explosive devices in the air cargo system came days after criticism from the air transport industry that certain security measures were unnecessary.

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'Germany-Bound Plane Bomb A Security Test'

Germany's interior minister has revealed that a suspected bomb found at an airport in Namibia about to go on a Munich-bound plane was part of a security test.

Thomas de Maiziere said the fake bomb was designed by a US firm to test measures at the airport, but was not organised by the German government.

The device was left in a suitcase to be loaded onto an LTU/Air Berlin flight to Munich at Windhoek international airport in Namibia on Wednesday.

Germany's Federal Crime Office, the BKA, said an X-ray of the suitcase revealed batteries wired to a "detonator and a ticking clock".

After examining the case they concluded it was a "real test suitcase" designed by a firm that produces alarm and detection systems.

However, there has been some confusion over whether the fake bomb was a test or not.

Some reports have claimed the package carried a label highlighting that it was part of a security operation.

But Mia Davids - a public relations officer for the Namibian Airports company - has said the detonator was not part of a drill.

The find came on the same day Mr de Maiziere decided to put the country on high security alert.

The BKA has sent officers based in South Africa to Namibia, a former German colony, to aid the investigation.

Last month, authorities discovered two US-bound parcel bombs originating from Yemen, one of which went through Cologne airport in western Germany.

On November 2, an explosive device was posted to Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in a suspected attack by Greek radicals.

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Fark sake :rolleyes:

Steyr

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/19/349967/suspect-device-at-windhoek-was-security-test-package.html

Air Transport
DATE:19/11/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

Suspect device at Windhoek was security test package
By David Kaminski-Morrow

German investigators have concluded that the suspect device discovered in luggage in proximity of an Air Berlin aircraft in Namibia was part of a security test.

The luggage item was discovered at Windhoek, close to a Munich-bound Airbus A330 operated by Air Berlin's LTU division.

But a spokesman from the German interior ministry says: "Experts from the [German federal police] were sent to Windhoek. They have inspected the device and found it to be a test device."

German law-enforcement authority Bundeskriminalamt would not comment further on the origin of the device.

It had indicated that it contained several suspicious components, including batteries and a detonator, although the authority did not mention explosives. Air Berlin had already pointed out that the luggage item was unlabelled.

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The nation’s police commander, Lt. Gen. Sebastian Ndeitunga, said a senior Namibian aviation security officer had been arrested in connection with the mock bomb found Wednesday in a laptop case at the airport there.

But, he said, the investigation was just beginning into how the device, which was made by a California company to test airport security, ended up at an airport halfway round the world.

“We’re still trying to establish the motive behind this mess,” he said.

The officer was arrested after a review of closed-circuit camera surveillance, General Ndeitunga said. The suspect, whose name will be kept secret until Monday, confessed to some involvement in the case, the general said.

General Ndeitunga said the possibility that the security officer had accomplices had not been ruled out.

The general sounded angry as he told reporters on Saturday that the officer in custody had “tarnished the reputation of the Namibian security forces.”

“We do not consider this to be a joke,” he said.

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