Army private accused of trying to board plane with explosives
A 19-year-old Army private was charged Thursday with trying to board a Los Angeles-bound commercial flight with a small amount of explosive material he had taken from a training session. Federal authorities said there were no indications of terrorism.
Pfc. Christopher Wey told investigators he found the half-ounce of the explosive C4 after being terminated from a training course at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, court records said. No information was released about the cause of his termination.
Wey hid the explosives in a tobacco container in the hopes of bringing it home, showing it off to his family and disposing of it, the court records said.
“Authorities found no evidence to believe that Wey intended any harm with the small amount of explosives in his possession,” the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona said in a statement.
Airport security in Yuma detected the explosives as Wey tried to catch a Wednesday morning flight to Los Angeles International Airport. He was arrested and charged with transporting stolen explosives and trying to carry explosives on an airplane. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Bill Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., said the amount of explosive that Wey purportedly carried could not have seriously damaged a plane.
“It might mess up his own luggage” if detonated, Waldock said.
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