Firecrackers Found on United Airlines Jet in HK
May 23, 2002 4:26 am EST
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong airport workers found seven firecrackers in
the toilet of a United Airlines jet from Chicago carrying over 300
passengers, but police and airport officials were quick to dismiss any
security fears.The firecrackers were without fuses and other detonating
devices and were discovered during a routine sweep after passengers and crew
disembarked from flight UA 895 on Tuesday night, an airport spokesman said on
Thursday."It's not seen as a high-level threat, it's just conventional
firecrackers and there were no signs that they were to be used to sabotage
the plane," he told Reuters.Hong Kong authorities have, however, contacted
counterparts in the United States about the incident, he said.Firecrackers
have been banned from most airlines for years and aviation security has been
stepped up after the devastating September 11 attacks in New York and
Washington.A police officer said the firecrackers had probably been abandoned
by a worried passenger."They were found in the toilet compartment and were
basically loose on the floor as if they'd been abandoned," Mike Howard,
police deputy district commander for the airport, told government radio."They
are small firecrackers, seven of them, about one centimeter in diameter. And
we suspect that one of the passengers has probably abandoned them realizing
that he has them in his hand luggage."The jet continued its flight schedule
that evening to Singapore, the airport spokesman said.
Leo/ORD
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