Plum of a Problem for Airport Security
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MANCHESTER, England — Security scanners at the Manchester airport last week were fooled by hundreds of Christmas puddings, which they could not differentiate from Semtex plastic explosives, often used by terrorists.
As a result, security officials had to examine hundreds of bags carried by travelers heading out for the holidays.
Airport officials insisted that the sophisticated $23-million baggage security system was not malfunctioning.
“Christmas puddings have unusual density, which alerts the system,” an airport spokesman said. “The system is simply doing its job, and doing it extremely well.”
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