TSA finds a rocket launcher at Baltimore airport — again
BALTIMORE — For the second time this week, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport officials seized an inert launcher, this time described as a “rocket launcher,” brought back as a souvenir early Thursday morning, according to a release from the Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Along with TSA agents, the Fire Marshal’s Bomb Squad and the Maryland Transportation Authority reported to the American Airlines baggage area at around 5:20 a.m., where the launcher had been found. It was being brought back on a military flight by a United States Air Force sergeant as a memento for their service, according to the release.
While the rocket launch tube presented no threat to anyone on the ground — it was empty of any explosive hazard and inspected by the U.S. military for safety, according to the release — there was a slight chance it could contain pressurized gas, so it wasn’t allowed on the sergeant’s connecting commercial flight.
The bomb squad took possession of the launcher until it can be safely returned to the owner, according to the release.
While it is not uncommon for military personnel to return home with mementos from their tours of duty, it is important that they are made aware of the differing regulations for their connecting commercial flights versus their military flights, the release said.
Federal officials said they found a similar device Monday. The unidentified traveler, a Jacksonville, Texas, resident, said he was in the military and returning from Kuwait.
“Man said he was bringing it back from Kuwait as a souvenir,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein wrote in a tweet.
The inert rocket launcher was confiscated and handed over to the state fire marshal for safe disposal, and the man was permitted to catch his flight.