A?British citizen who breached security at the Grantley Adams International Airport last year, has been convicted of carrying a petrol powered chainsaw in baggage on a flight from Gatwick Airport.
Alan Hanson pleaded guilty at Crawley Magistrates Court on March 25, to a breach of the Air Navigation Order (Dangerous Goods) Regulations. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1 000 prosecution costs for the incident that occured on May 24, 2010.
Airport security staff were alerted to the smell of petrol from Hanson’s baggage during the loading process of a British Airways flight to Manchester. The baggage was intransit and had previously flown from The Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA).
A petrol powered chainsaw was subsequently discovered among Hanson’s possessions, with evidence that some petrol had leaked within the suitcase. The baggage was offloaded and seized, whilst the passenger continued on his journey to Manchester, where he was arrested.
According to GAIA corporate communications manager Keith Goddard the matter has been investigated by local and British authorities.
“The fullest cooperation was given to the British authorities in dealing with the investigation,”?Goddard said.
Another source told the DAILY?NATION, the breach was unfortunate.
“He couldn’t have walked through the airport with a chainsaw in his hand. If it was hand-held luggage, it would have been dealt with differently.”
Petrol is forbidden for carriage by air by passengers in both carry-on and checked (hold) baggage. The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Dangerous Goods Office carried out further investigations and found that the chainsaw tank did indeed contain petrol, despite claims by the passenger that it was empty.
The chainsaw contained almost half a litre of a highly flammable liquid that had begun to leak.
