Bombs away, indeed.
TSA has confirmed that its security officers stopped two passengers on Wednesday from smuggling grenades onto flights leaving Pittsburgh International Airport.
TSA intercepted a “smoke grenade” from one traveler’s carry-on bag, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. A more iconic, circular grenade was discovered the same day at a security checkpoint at the airport.
Farbstein said the passengers and incidents appear to be unrelated. The “smoke grenade,” if active, would have triggered clouds of thick yellow smoke.
“Yellow is just not a good look,” Farbstein quipped Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. “And besides, you know that there’s no smoking on a plane!”
In another tweet, she wrote: “Most people plan on having a blast on their trip, but this guy wasn’t thinking along those lines.”
Most people plan on having a blast on their trip, but this guy wasn't thinking along those lines when @TSA officers intercepted this grenade at the @PITairport checkpoint yesterday. Fortunately it was inert, however grenades, live or inert are not allowed on planes. pic.twitter.com/nyee6mmONH
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) June 20, 2024
Farbstein, in all seriousness, said the federal agency she represents confiscates at least one grenade a day at U.S. airport checkpoints.
“Grenades, live or inert, are not allowed on planes,” she told TribLive. “Fortunately, the vast majority of them are inert. That’s the good news.”
Travelers continue to try to bring many firearms and associated weapons onto flights, Farbstein said. As of Thursday, TSA officers have confiscated 16 guns this year at the airport’s checkpoints.
A Texas man was stopped last month from bringing his 9mm handgun through a security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International.
“Nobody wants to wait in a checkpoint line because someone with a gun was careless and brought his gun with him,” Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, said at the time.
Last year, Pittsburgh International Airport set a record for the number of guns confiscated in a year — 44. The previous record was 35 guns, set in 2019.
Passengers who bring firearms into an airport security checkpoint can face federal civil fines up to $10,000. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $13,910.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided, locked case, Farbstein said. The case must be declared at an airline check-in counter.
Last year, a record 6,737 firearms were caught at checkpoints nationwide.
