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Aviation Office to Look Into Onboard-Explosive Incident
Monday 11 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 11 (TASR) - The case involving the departure of a plane from Poprad (Presov region) airport to Dublin with explosives on board will be looked into by the Slovak Aviation Office at the request of the Transportation Ministry, ministry spokesman Stanislav Jurikovic confirmed for TASR on Monday.
According to Jurikovic, the inspection will focus on whether legislation was followed in the case. The authorities will also closely screen the communication records relating to the case, which resulted in an innocent Slovak being apprehended as a terrorism suspect in Ireland.
The announcement of an inspection comes in response to information published by Sme daily on Monday that the incident could have been prevented if the control tower hadn't failed in its duty – just like the police officer involved. The daily has published a transcription of the exchanges between the airport's control tower and the pilot of the Danube Wings plane that flew to Dublin on January 2.
A police officer realised that he had left explosives used for police sniffer dog training in the luggage of an unwitting passenger only when the plane was ready for departure and only the control tower was able to communicate with it. The officer informed the control tower about what had happened, stating that explosive sample was "not a dummy one, but real", while at the same time stating that it wasn't dangerous as it didn't have a fuse or detonator.
Meanwhile, several experts have pointed out that the sample itself was dangerous, and could have caused a great deal of damage under certain circumstances.
The employee in the control tower told the pilot that there was "only a dummy explosive sample" on board, and asked him whether he wanted the luggage to be removed, or keep it on board and inform Dublin airport on arrival. The tower employee must have known that, according to regulations, a plane with explosives on board can't be allowed to take off. Danube Wings claimed from the outset that the pilot was only informed about a dummy explosive sample, and therefore decided to fly.
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