Airport security has to be on its toes. There have been too many instances of bombs on airplanes for them not to be. Even before getting into the plane, a terminal attack can be devastating. As many victims can attest, terrorists prefer target-dense environments.
Because of the dangers, travelers are routinely and repeatedly admonished not to leave packages unattended. A previously placed bomb is a favorite terrorist weapon, such as the ones used in the Boston Marathon attack.
These are some of the concerns of airport law enforcement, and because of that every abandoned package is treated as if it’s potentially hazardous. In most cases, when the package is opened, the contents are completely mundane… clothes, papers, or the ever-popular “nothing”. Then there’s the Adelaide Airport scare of 2018.
It began the same way as all unattended package concerns. Someone noticed a package – in this case, a pink shopping bag – that had been left by itself for an unusually long time. The place was a women’s bathroom inside the terminal. It soon had two different sets of officials converging on the scene.
The first was the Australian Federal Police bomb squad. They followed procedure, clearing everyone first from the bathroom and then from the surrounding area. Remote devices were sent in, and the first images showed red bands crisscrossing in a corner of the bag. Tensions rose, and immediately plummeted as they were recognized to be a harness… for the bunny.
Far from being a danger, and likely to be thankful (if his little bunny brain would understand it) that he wasn’t remotely detonated, the contents of the package were shown to be an approximately one year old dwarf rabbit.
The police were sympathetic and gave it shredded carrots until the second group of officials, this time from the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), arrived.
Subsequent attempts to locate the original owner proved fruitless, likely because of the large number of fees and charges they faced for their actions. The rabbit was adopted a little over a week later, and named Boeing by its new family.
Question of the night: Have you had a shelter pet?
