Mini explosion at Miami International Airport

We’ll have more on this story on the Caribbean Newsline, but the international press today reported that a passenger on board an American Airlines flight that landed at the Miami International Airport on Tuesday morning is in custody pending charges that could land him in jail for up to five years.  The thirty-seven year old man was arrested after bullet primers ignited in his bag as it was unloaded on the tarmac at the airport.  The passenger, bound for Jamaica, is a naturalized US citizen.  He had reportedly checked in his luggage containing the bullet primers when one ignited, triggering a mini explosion inside the bag.  But the incident did not appear to be connected to terrorism, according to FBI Spokesman, Mike Leverock, who spoke with CNN News in Miami.

Mike Leverock, FBI Spokesman (Video Courtesy CNN)

Mike leverock

“At approximately noon today an American Airlines flight landed safely here at Miami, coming from Boston. When it landed, the baggage handlers was unloading what looked like a common roll-on type bag in the belly of the plane. When he set it down, it ignited. And when I said ignited what happened was small pellets came out of the bag and hit him in the shoe. He is uninjured, he is fine, he was not transported, he has no injuries. At that time, Miami Dade Fire Rescue responded as well as the bomb squad. The baggage was opened; eventually some of the contents did catch fire a little bit. At that time, Miami Dade did respond, they did an excellent job. FBI responded, an A.R.T. is on the scene looking at it. The plane was in route from Boston to Miami and the passenger who owned the luggage was then ongoing to Jamaica. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen; he is thirty-seven years old. I am not giving his name out at this point. He is arrested, he is being held at the Miami Dade Airport Facility. He will be transported to the Federal Detention Center here in Miami. He is charged with title 46-312 transportation passenger’s materials that carries a sentence up to five years.”

There were a hundred and forty-eight passengers and six crew members on board the flight.  As we said, we’ll have more coming up in Caribbean Newsline.