Be Wary When Airlines Offer You A Replacement Suitcase

If your suitcase gets damaged at the airport, it’s not uncommon for staff to offer an on-the-spot replacement. It turns out this can be a bad idea. Earlier today, a Sydney Airport customer was accidentally given a replacement bag that contained 230 grams of plastic explosives. Oops.

This potentially disastrous mix-up was caused after the Australian Federal Police forgot to remove the aforementioned bomb from an unclaimed suitcase during a training exercise with bomb-sniffing dogs. Oblivious airport staff later gave the bag to a woman whose own bag had been damaged during a flight.

Thankfully, the device wasn’t live and the woman discovered it without incident. The police have since issued a public apology. The canine instructor who left the explosives at the airport is now the subject of an investigation.

Granted, this isn’t the sort of mishap that occurs on a regular basis but it remains sobering proof that you shouldn’t blindly trust authority figures to know exactly what they’re doing. Assuming the people in control are infallible is a good way to have things blow up in your face.

[Via Gizmodo]


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