Bag pulled at loading

[EvanC]

Some colleagues of mine had an interesting experience at MEL today. As they were waiting to board a VA flight for CBR (I got stuck with taking care of our Melbourne gig), they were paged and told to report that baggage claim as there was an issue with one of their bags.

So when they got there, five AFP officers were waiting and they were told to follow along an interesting path through the baggage handling areas to a small AFP area within. They were told that the bag in question had been detected by a dog as containing "explosives or munitions". He instinctively laughed on hearing that - on reflection he said that the Feds may not have thought it so amusing!

The bag actually contained some video equipment, including microphones, cables, and a radio mic receiver. You can imagine how this combination would've looked on an X-ray!!

They had to take everything out and after doing so the AFP were satisfied that all was well. They were sent on their way and told to hurry as the flight was waiting for them. They made it to Canberra with all the gear, though a little late (crew announcement explaining the delay on approach to CBR was apparently amusing, putting it down to "a baggage discrepancy".

The interesting thing is that there would be no reason for the bag to be detected. Neither the bag nor anything in it has had anything to do with explosives - ever. Kinda weird. So we figure there might be a pooch going hungry tonight!

Was all quite an interesting event, and I'm kinda disappointed I wasn't there to see it. But I'm curious to know if anyone else has had similar experiences?

 

[Austman]

I've had the explosive tests return positive too. Apparently being near or handling fireworks (eg in Asia) can trigger it. No doubt there are other reasons too?

 

[EvanC]

I've had the explosive tests return positive too. Apparently being near or handling fireworks (eg in Asia) can trigger it. No doubt there are other reasons too?

What surprised me about it was that it wasn't an Itemizer test (that one they do when you pass through security), it was a sniffer dog, which I've always heard to be highly accurate and far less likely to return a false positive.

That, and by the sounds of it the Feds were pretty concerned about it.

 

[Austman]

What surprised me about it was that it wasn't an Itemizer test (that one they do when you pass through security), it was a sniffer dog, which I've always heard to be highly accurate and far less likely to return a false positive.

That, and by the sounds of it the Feds were pretty concerned about it.

I've had the dogs also test my carry-on bag positive for food items (waiting at baggage claim in SYD or MEL international arrivals). There was nothing edible in the bag. I was told that the dogs can detect food that was there even some days ago! Seems they can be super sensitive!

 

[opusman]

You can imagine how this combination would've looked on an X-ray!!

Maybe they have the dogs doing the x-rays these days?

 

[Skyring]

That, and by the sounds of it the Feds were pretty concerned about it.

Sounds like a reasonable false positive.

I got pulled coming into Sydney from Christchurch a few years ago. The dog reacted to my bag and I had to start pulling stuff out of it. I suspect it was the dirty undies that did it.

The authorities are always going to take these things seriously. Once the button is pressed, the manual has to be followed and a report written. Usually the procedure does not involve smiling.

However, another time, leaving Narita, my carryon must have looked like an electronics supermarket on the radar. Too many cables and adapters and dongles and cough. I had a young lady inspect all my gear and she just giggled continuously. I thought it was a great joke too, but she was cutting into my lounge time.

 

[trooper]

I too have had the interesting walk into the bowels of the baggage handling area.... that time however I think it was a case of our declared firearms coming as a surprise to someone when X-rayed.. (??) Left hand/ Right hand???

Took very little time and didn't hold us (or anyone else) up at all....

 

[Cynicor]

What surprised me about it was that it wasn't an Itemizer test (that one they do when you pass through security), it was a sniffer dog, which I've always heard to be highly accurate and far less likely to return a false positive.

That, and by the sounds of it the Feds were pretty concerned about it.

I've heard the exact opposite, and the only articles I've read on the matter suggest that a lot of it is down to subtle clues form the handlers- like the horse that 'could do maths'. But I have no idea. I only went to find the articles when I heard they weren't actually that effective.

 

[albatross710]

Two years ago at Brisbane DOM when sending my F-I-L off to a hunting trip in Africa the nice AFP puppy and his handler walked right past us sitting there complete with gun cases carrying recently fired weapon and a couple of kgs of ammunition packed into the check-in bag. The handler made the visual identification but the dog didn't respond. The handler's offsider asked for the gun case to be opened and they brought the dog past again.

While they are never perfect it is good to see they do keep active.

Alby

 

[NM]

Two years ago at Brisbane DOM when sending my F-I-L off to a hunting trip in Africa the nice AFP puppy and his handler walked right past us sitting there complete with gun cases carrying recently fired weapon and a couple of kgs of ammunition packed into the check-in bag. The handler made the visual identification but the dog didn't respond. The handler's offsider asked for the gun case to be opened and they brought the dog past again.

While they are never perfect it is good to see they do keep active.

Alby

Apparently, gun power is not considered an explosive by the various forms of explosives detection (electronic and canine). So even if you go straight from the firing range to the airport you should not trigger any explosives tests. Then again, heading to the airport after fertilising the lawn may not be such a pleasant experience .

 

[ozbeachbabe]

There's always a possibility that on a previous flight your bag could have been next to someone eles's bag in the hold that may have had some kind of illegal substance in it. You may have just been unlucky that the destination you were going to just happened to have AFP giving the dog a run.

Maybe they had a tip off about someone dodgy coming in & your colleagues just happened to be in the wrong place a the wrong time.

If you've ever watched the TV shows like Territory Cops & Border Security you'll see plenty of examples of drug and explosive detection stings.

 

[joyvee]

A friend was once taken off her flight as her hand luggage seemed to be "explosive" It was her children's plastic lunch box and it seems it must have had a trace of some active ingredient in it. She was less than amused as had two hungry pre-schoolers with her. JoyV

 

[fifo]

i was in the army.. washed my civvie clothes with my uniforms after range practice. had to have my OC called up to verify. even though i had a mil id. pretty silly. i also travel with a closed circuit reabreather often.... i even have a leter from qanats and it is still a huge issue!

 

[straitman]

A friend of mine was pulled up a few years ago with a positive explosives test. He was a helicopter crewman who had been using a winch. Whilst this sounds pretty innocuous the winches have an explosive charge for use if a cable cut is needed and the residue obviously showed on him.

As per post #13, he could prove the situation but still was held long enough to miss his flight.

 

[doctau]

I seem to get pulled aside at security for the clothes and carry-on explosives check about 80% of the time (I must look suspicious).

One time I wasn't pulled over was back when I was at uni in late 2001 (so a month or so after September 11 attacks). I was catching a Friday evening flight back to my parents for a birthday and had gone directly from uni to the airport. I had just finished a three hour prac for Organic Chemistry where I had been handling toluene (and other things). If I'd been checked I think I would have had some very serious explaining to do :-\