Flare Ignites in Bag Just Before Flight

A flare gun ignited inside a French tour operator’s suitcase only minutes before he was to board a flight at Miami International Airport and could have caused a major air disaster, investigators said. Baggage handlers noticed smoke billowing from the suitcase sitting on a baggage cart about to be taken to a US Airways flight to Philadelphia. Leo Guy Cauvin, 55, a French citizen living in Taunusstein, Germany, was arrested and charged with transporting hazardous materials. His bond was set at $10,000 and he remained in jail. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the flare gun to go off and whether the suitcase had been X-rayed.