Slovaks say sorry for explosives test on plane
Man unwittingly carries hidden bomb parts on flight to Ireland
updated 5:45 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 6, 2010
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - A failed airport security test ended up with a Slovak man unwittingly carrying hidden explosives in his luggage on a flight to Dublin, Slovak officials admitted Wednesday — a mistake that enraged Irish authorities and shocked aviation experts worldwide.
While the Slovaks blamed the incident on "a silly and unprofessional mistake," Irish officials and security experts said it was foolish for the Slovaks to hide actual bomb parts in the luggage of innocent passengers under any circumstances. The passenger himself was detained by Irish police for several hours before being let go without charge Tuesday. The Irish were also angry that it took the Slovaks three days to tell them about the Saturday mistake and that the pilot of the airplane decided to fly to Dublin anyway even after being told that an explosive was in his aircraft's checked luggage.
After being informed by the Slovaks, Irish authorities shut down a major Dublin intersection Tuesday and evacuated people from several apartment buildings as Irish Army experts examined the explosive. The unwitting passenger was identified by Irish police as Stefan Gonda, a 49-year-old Slovak electrician who lives and works in Ireland.
Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak expressed "profound regret" to the Irish government for the oversight and the delay in alerting them. But his ministry, in a statement, still claimed that "no one was in danger (during the flight) because the substance, without any other components (detonators) and under the conditions it was stored, is not dangerous." The ministry said it ordered an immediate halt to such tests and took steps to prevent a repeat, while Tibor Mako, the head of Slovakia's border police whose people carried out the exercise, offered his resignation. There was no word on whether it would be accepted. "The aim of the training was to keep sniffer dogs in shape and on alert in a real environment," the ministry said.
Still, details emerging from the failed exercise heightened concerns that basic precautions were not taken, with the ministry saying that when Slovak authorities realized their error and told the pilot of the Danube Wings flight, he still decided to take off with the explosives on board.
Irish officials said the Slovaks told them nine real bomb components were placed into the bags of nine different passengers at two airports, including Bratislava Airport and Poprad-Tatry Airport in central Slovakia. Eight items were detected, the Irish said, adding that one bag had two bomb components in it. Slovak officials say they attached only two small packages onto the outside of one man's bag — one a small explosive cache and the other a dummy that smells like explosives. A sniffer dog found the fake — but the police officer in charge failed to remove the second, which was not detected by the dog, from the bag because he was busy, the Slovakian interior ministry statement said. That allowed 3 ounces of RDX plastic explosive to travel undetected through security at Poprad-Tatry onto a Danube Wings aircraft. The Slovak carrier launched services to Dublin last month.
"The police officer made a silly and unprofessional mistake, which turned the good purpose of protecting people into a problem," the ministry statement said. Slovak border police subsequently traced the man and told him where the explosive was planted so that he was able to find it Monday evening, said the ministry. Kalinak, the interior minister, called him to apologize. But the Slovak ministry admitted it did not contact Irish authorities and explain the situation until Tuesday. That prompted Irish police to raid the man's Dublin apartment and detain him for several hours. Irish police said they initially were led to believe the man might be a terrorist until the Slovaks explained the situation further. Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said Dublin police eventually confirmed that the explosive "was concealed without his knowledge or consent ... as part of an airport security exercise."
The Slovak statement criticized the Irish police. "For an incomprehensible reason for us, they took the person into custody and undertook further security measures," it said. Slovakia was considering "new forms of sniffer dog training" to avoid a repeat of the scare, the ministry said.
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