Over the weekend, Douglas Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, reported on an incident, Delta Airlines Flight 1824, involving a large group of Middle Eastern passengers, male and female, who were flying from Orlando, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. Sources told Hagmann the passengers' bags tested positive for SEMTEX explosives at a TSA security checkpoint and were taken away by the FBI. Over the weekend, I spoke to Hagmann, as well as with one of his sources.

Just now, I had a lengthy conversation with TSA Spokesman Christopher White who confirmed the incident. Here's what White told me about Delta Airlines Flight 1824: 

"We ID'd twelve passengers at the checkpoint with suspicious items. Yes, there was a positive hit, I can't get into the level of detail of what or what wasn't a match. We immediately closed two checkpoint lanes and called in a TSA Bomb Appraisal Officer who determined, 'yes, these are suspicious.' We called in three TSA canine teams to come to the check point and the FBI was called as well… The FBI took over from there. I can't comment on the FBI."

I asked White to explain what a "TSA Bomb Appraisal Officer" is.

"A highly trained professional in TSA with specific training on bomb detection. There are two schools in the country, Navy and FBI, who train at this level. TSA's Bomb Appraisal Officers are trained this way."  

Doesn't sound like the kind of professional who would sound a false alarm. So why did the FBI tell the Orlando Sentinel the event was "benign?" 

An agent at the FBI's Tampa office said the suspicious items turned out to be a bottle that had been covered with tape to prevent leaking. The flight ultimately took off about 10:20 a.m. without the two families, who were still undergoing FBI questioning. They were ultimately released. "It was all benign," said Dave Couvertier, the FBI agent.

Released to whom? I called ICE to find out if reports were correct, that one or more of the men were carrying fraudulent travel documents, which would be a violation of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. ICE is checking for me.

As for the TSA's role in the incident, Spokesman Christopher White described the situation as an example of TSA working quickly with law enforcement officials to identify and address suspicious behavior, suspicious items, and "anomalies" among airline passengers. White explained: "Once we ID'd the suspicious passengers to law enforcement we called back the plane. The flight was taxing [on the runway] so we asked Delta to pull back. We re-screened everything and everyone [of the passengers] including the plane."  

I asked Christopher White why the TSA was so forthcoming with the information about Delta Flight 1824. "It's part of our general shift within the agency toward transparency. We recognize that we're accountable to the taxpayer. We need the public's help."  

Will the FBI be as transparent? FBI has not returned calls.

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