Security measures at airport questioned

Teen allowed to f ly after explosive substance seized from carry-on

At least one security expert is questioning the protocols that were followed when a young man was allowed to get on a flight at the Edmonton International Airport in September despite having an explosive device seized from his carry-on luggage.

Skylar Murphy, 18, pleaded guilty last month to possession of an explosive substance and was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $100.

Court documents describe the material seized from his luggage as black powder and a pipe bomb.

Four days after the seizure, Canada’s Air Transport Security Authority called the RCMP and three days after that, Murphy was arrested upon his return to Canada.

A spokesman for CATSA said he could not go into details about their procedures and protocols for security reasons, though Mathieu Larocque did say screening officers “do not have the authority to apprehend or detain passengers.”

“We are constantly reviewing and updating our procedures and training to ensure that screening officers are equipped to handle all sorts of security situations,” said Larocque.

Andre Gerolymatos, a security analyst at Simon Fraser University, said “everyone is dodging the bullet” in this case.

“No one wants to take responsibility for what is obviously a series of mistakes,” said Gerolymatos, who added the incident defies logic.

He suggested RCM P should have been notified immediately.

“If they were convinced that what was in his carryon case was a dangerous substance — not even dangerous in the form of a bomb but dangerous in the form of an explosive — he should not have been allowed to board a plane.”