1955 Heathrow Aerial photo. Images from Wikipedia
I have to say that when I heard that two WW1 artillery shells had managed to make their way not only through Heathrow, but all the way to the US, I thought it was some kind of April Fool’s joke… But no, this was reality! And it’s only thanks to the ‘eagle eyes’ of security officials that the munitions were discovered.
Two teenagers were the culprits who decided to smuggle the WW1 artillery shells through the airport and home, following a recent field trip to Europe. Hidden in two suitcases, the shells passed through scanners at Heathrow but when the United Airlines flight landed in Chicago on route to Seattle, and the luggage was scanned again, triggering a major security alert. The FBI was called in; bomb disposal crews rushed to the airport – if the shells had been live and exploded… well, let’s not think about that!
The boys were questioned but were subsequently released without charge as they insisted they just wanted a souvenir from their trip. What is startling is that they managed to pass through Heathrow’s scanners in the first place, and their claim that “its scanners are so sophisticated they were able to tell the shells posed no risk” was almost laughable, except the airport spokesman was being absolutely serious!
Then there’s the question of how the boys managed to get the shells into the UK in the first place, after it was revealed that they took the shells from an artillery range that is adjacent to a war memorabilia museum… in France!
The Heathrow spokesman did add: “Safety is of paramount importance to Heathrow. We have the world’s most advanced airport scanning equipment. It is designed to pick up actual threats such as explosive material, whereas these were inert items that posed no threat.” Nothing is completely infallible, is it?
Aviation expert, Chris Yates, responded: “This security breach is a cause for concern. Those who are responsible for the security process should be taken to task. These munitions, even though they were found to be inert, should have been taken off and destroyed.”