BREAKING: Hazardous material found in bag at Bakersfield, Calif., airport.

2 TSA workers hospitalized in Calif.; hazardous material found in bag

Two TSA workers have been hospitalized after hazardous material found in checked bag shuts down Bakersfield, Calif., airport.

The Meadows Field airport iwas evacuated Tuesday morning after trace amounts of explosive material were detected on a passenger’s bag, according to local reports.

The substance sickened two Transportation Security Administration officials, prompting authorities to evacuate the airport and divert all flights to Los Angeles International Airport, KERO-TV reported.

Bomb squads and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were reportedly on the scene to search the terminal and question witnesses.

Bakersfield is approximately 110 miles north of Los Angeles.

Assistant Airport Director Matt Maas told KGET-TV that many legitimate local professions use explosives and there could be an innocent explanation for the material's presence.

Read more: www.nypost.com...

It will be interesting to see what facts materialize from this.... This is a pretty small airport.

(Looking for additional sources...)


[edit on 5-1-2010 by loam]

...after trace amounts of explosive material were detected on a passenger’s bag...

The passenger probably spilled a little hydrogen peroxide on their toiletries bag.

Trace amounts

Are they going to arrest folks for drug trafficking too? After all, there are trace amounts of coc aine on most US currency.

[edit on 5-1-2010 by Aggie Man]

reply to post by Aggie Man


Except this story indicates that the substance sent two men to the hospital. Doesn't sound like a little liquid hydrogen peroxide to me.

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by Aggie Man

 

Except this story indicates that the substance sent two men to the hospital. Doesn't sound like a little liquid hydrogen peroxide to me.

Did the substance itself send them, or were they sent as a precautionary measure? The story isn't specific on that.

reply to post by Aggie Man


It uses the term 'hospitalized'.

Doesn't sound routine to me.

"It sounds like, at this point, it's a hazmat issue; it's not terrorist-related or anything like that," said Suzanne Trevino, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration. "It's not a bomb."

"It sounds like, at this point, it's a hazmat issue; it's not terrorist-related or anything like that," said Suzanne Trevino, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration. "It's not a bomb."

www.startribune.com...

Could of been anything but probably nothing.

The two workers must have handled the explosives for them to be hospitalised. I'm guessing therefore that either:

a) the explosives had been transported in the container, case, bag etc, and had been delivered or deployed prior to the check;

or b) the material was unknown to the staff and they didn't follow standard handling procedure.

It is worth noting that most explosives have irritant and/or corrosive properties, as well as blowing things up, and any airport staff will have be briefed on the majority of widely used materials and the procedures for the event of handling.

Another good find Loam, I'm following the Yemen thread with interest too. Good man!

Sendran.

reply to post by loam


Remember this story: 7 hospitalized after office fridge cleanup Hazmat team called in after mix of rotten food, chemicals sparks vomiting

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Hospitalization doesn't imply injury....

"It sounds like, at this point, it's a hazmat issue; it's not terrorist-related or anything like that,"

Local news source:

www.turnto23.com...

MOMENTS AGO:

Two Transportation Security Administration agents were doing a routine swab of a piece of luggage when it tested positive for a hazardous substance, Deputy Michael Whorf, spokesman for the Kern County Sheriff's Department, told CNN.

The agents opened the bag, and both became nauseated, Whorf said. They were taken to a hospital.

The owner of the bag, who was not immediately identified, was being detained and questioned, he said.

Link.

Here's another article on the situation...

Bakersfield.Com

The TSA workers were rushed to the hospital as a precaution.

"We don't know if that's (the nausea) because there was something really going on or if the employee was just nervous. These are tense times but we wanted to be sure, obviously," Michael Whorf, a sheriff's department spokesman.

The substance was outgassed TNT material in a bottle. (odd...just odd)

Cuhail

I think its total b/s. Just another way for the Gov't to look like the good guys and there's a reason for the war on terror. To make us feel afraid, so when Obama gives the flag that America is having a Biological Attack we will be ok with any Bio-Vaccine they come out with since the Swine Flu didnt work as plan.

reply to post by loam


Deputy Whorf... Love it.

For the two agents to be nauseated just from
opening the bag, the material could have been anything. Ammonia can put you on your backside from a whiff, so the peroxide idea may not be far off.

Sendran.

It could have been an asian tourist bringing some durian fruit with him.

It's the foulest smelling thing ever.

This reminds me of how dangerous the media is.

If you could count on them to tell the truth, to not try to sensationalize things just to sell headlines, the world would be a safer place.

Kneejerk, emphasis on JERK, reporting, yuk.

reply to post by Sendran


I used to work with chemicals. Unless these people are abnormally sensitive or the employees, a little whiff of ammonia is not going to make anybody sick. Besides, what is somebody doing with ammonia in their bags anyway? Unless you live under a rock, you should know that ammonia is a no-no on a plane.

UPDATE:

Bottles of honey cause Calif. airport shutdown

Authorities say the suspicious material inside luggage that prompted the shutdown of a California airport turns out to be five soft drink bottles filled with honey.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood says the bottles, found inside a checked bag at Bakersfield's Meadows Field, had tested positive for traces of an explosive.

Youngblood says investigators are trying to determine whether there was something in the honey or on the bag that caused security alarms to go off shortly before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

They have been questioning the bag's owner, 31-year-old Francisco Ramirez, a gardener from Milwaukee who says he flew to Bakersfield to spend Christmas with his sister.

The discovery of the suspicious material halted flights to and from the airport. Two security officers reported feeling ill after being exposed to the bottles.

I swear sometimes they make this stuff up...

The agents opened the bag, and both became nauseated, Whorf said. They were taken to a hospital.

the smell of honey nauseated them to the point they had to go to the hospital? Sounds like 2 lazy employs that wanted a half day off work, hazzard pay and a workers comp. claim




[edit on 5-1-2010 by Aggie Man]

It's a damned good thing they didn't find honey soaked underwear inside the luggage... If they had, we would have had a very major international incident.

Beware the honey underwear bomber cells have been activated.

They have been questioning the bag's owner, 31-year-old Francisco Ramirez, a gardener from Milwaukee who says he flew to Bakersfield to spend Christmas with his sister.

A Gardener!!

Gardeners use Fertilizer

DOH!

[edit on 5-1-2010 by seataka]