HANOVER TWP., LEHIGH CO., Pa. — Near the Lehigh Valley International Airport security checkpoint Wednesday, a U.S. Transportation Security Administration official laid out potential explosives.
What looked like a typical cane actually was a simulated pipe bomb, with explosives, electronics and a detonator revealed by pulling off the cane’s rubber foot.
What appeared to be a normal trucker hat from above actually was lined with a dummy sheet of military-grade rubberized explosives.
TSA explosives expert Nicholas Apostolou visited the airport to show off replicas of improvised explosives similar to those people have tried to bring onto airplanes.
The explosives were fake, but the threat is real.
Each device was inspired by a potentially deadly IED, or improvised explosive device, intercepted by security officials or used in an attack in the United States or abroad.
Part of Apostolou's job is building realistic looking — but harmless — models of improvised bombs to help agents train to recognize threats coming through the security checkpoint’s X-ray scanners.
He laid out a selection of his handiwork, and to the untrained eye, the mock devices were all but indistinguishable from everyday objects.
New threat, new replicas
The TSA’s collection of model bombs includes multiple children’s toys, such as a plush Elmo stuffed with bomb-making materials, and a Mr. Potato Head coated inside with a generous layer of simulated putty-like plastic explosives.
Apostolou’s spread also included simulated plastic explosives stuffed inside the bottom of a shoe, patterned after the bomb brought on board an American Airlines flight in 2001.
It also included laptops and tablets with a few parts replaced with explosives, which Apostolou said resemble devices used by terrorists overseas, as in a 2016 attack on a Somali passenger jet.
“We take things that have happened around the world and we recreate it," Apostolou said. "We can’t always do it exactly, but we’ll do it similarly."
When the TSA learns of a new threat, its network of trainers across the United States work together on quickly creating replicas to show front-line agents, he said.
Season travel picking up
For the public, the simulated bombs offer a reminder why the process of going through a TSA security checkpoint is as complicated as it is.
“I get a lot of questions about why do I have to take off my shoes, why can’t I bring my laptop, why can’t I bring my water through [security]. This helps explain some of that.”Geraldo Spero, the TSA’s security director for Pennsylvania and Delaware
“I get a lot of questions about why do I have to take off my shoes, why can’t I bring my laptop, why can’t I bring my water through” security, said Geraldo Spero, the TSA’s security director for Pennsylvania and Delaware.
“This helps explain some of that.”
TSA officials said passenger traffic is picking up at airports across the country ahead of the spring break travel season.
