TSA officers at the Philadelphia International Airport stopped a Cortland, NY woman and her young son from boarding a plane yesterday -- because of two knives sewn into the middle of a stuffed Darth Vader Bear. Say what?
Officers say the stuffed bear, which appeared to be a black bear in a space-age technology suit and cape, triggered an alarm on a security checkpoint X-ray machine.
TSA officers removed the stitches from the back of the stuffed bear and found two knives ‘artfully’ hidden inside in the middle of the bear’s stuffing.
“This is a good example of why we cannot assume that something as innocent-looking as a child’s stuffed animal is not a risk to security,” said the airports’ TSA Federal Security Director, Gerardo Spero. “Someone intentionally attempted to conceal two knives inside this 9-year-old boy’s toy for whatever reason. It was a good catch on the part of our TSA officers.”
Mom told TSA officers the bear was a comfort toy for her nine-year-old son; she will probably be fined.
Maybe there's some explanation, right? I mean, no one really likes to eat with plastic knives -- maybe they just wanted to upgrade their airborne dining experience!
I look forward to hearing more about this story.
