Results tagged “macarthurairport”

A judge denied bail to the 20-year-old man whose pipe bomb, knife, fireworks, and .22-caliber rounds in his belongings caused MacArthur Airport to be partially shut down on Thursday. Newsday reports that Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson thinks that Steven Nobles "poses a danger to the community" and said she was "not sure how a rational person carries a pipe bomb" onto an airplane. She added, "His actions are bizarre." A lawyer for Nobles, a Las Vegas resident who had been working for his uncle on Long Island, said his client "forgot" the pipe-bomb and 7-inch knife were in his carry-on bag (the other things were in his checked bag). The U.S. Department of Justice has not stated whether the items could have exploded on their own, but the authorities are testing them.

Part of the Southwest Airlines terminal at MacArthur Airport on Long Island was evacuated for about an hour this morning after an improvised explosive device was found in the carry-on bag of an unidentified man. Officials say they won't be able to determine what the device is until it's defused and examined, but it's believed to be either a smoke bomb, pipe bomb or firework. It was spotted by TSA baggage screeners as the 20-year-old attempted to board a flight to Las Vegas, where he resides. The TSA then pulled his checked luggage and found a knife and fireworks, including M-80s. The FBI and agents from the DOJ's Joint Terrorism Task Force are on the scene; FBI spokeswoman Lara Uselding tells Newsday the man has "no known nexus to terrorism." At least four outgoing flights were delayed following the incident.