Xbox 360 Sparks Bomb Scare

CivilianHero writes "The New York Post is reporting that a carry-on case, with an Xbox 360 inside, sparked a terror alert to go off at MacArthur Airport after several x-ray screenings revealed the case to be containing suspicious wires. That section of the airport was cleared and the bomb squad was deployed to investigate. That's one more reason why Xbox 360 is the bomb for Games.net and Joystiq."

Comments

x-ray machines

[megrims]

Aren't they able to distinguish between biological material, (which I suppose is found in bombs, that or some form of liquid.) and the electronics in the XBox?
What would have set the machine off?

(Or does the machine do nothing, and leave the interpretation up to the user?)

Re:x-ray machines

[cornface]

My god, man. Have you ever actually been to an airport?

The X-ray machines are right there in front of you when you go through security. You can see the screens.

Re:x-ray machines

[Yaotzin]

Take a good read here. Do you see the picture of the bag? That's what airport security sees on their screens and they determine whether the contents of the bags they check are a threat or not.

Re:x-ray machines

[Tim Browse]

So in other words, they can detect biological material?

From your own link:

While the colors used to signify "inorganic" and "metal" may vary between manufacturers, all X-ray systems use shades of orange to represent "organic." This is because most explosives are organic.

The caption on the picture of the bag also says:

Notice that all organic items are a shade of orange.

Re:x-ray machines

[LWATCDR]

I assume you mean organic material not biological. They are not the same thing. It is totaly possible to build a bomb that uses not organic materal. Thermite would be a good example. In theory you could make a bomb out of liquid oxygen and powdered aluminum but I don't know how practical it would be. And I am not going to try it.

Re:x-ray machines

[sperdich]

Well, who told you that bombs are made onlyu of biological material? You can make a bomb with almost anything. And a XBOX360 would be a perfect place to hide one. Ser www.salvaneschi.com.ar

Re:x-ray machines

[megrims]

Ah yes, that is what I'd meant.
Thanks. I'm not quite up to scratch on bomb-building.

Re:x-ray machines

[Tim Browse]

Well, who told you that I think that bombs are made only of biological material?

As I quoted above, from the article:

This is because most explosives are organic.

(Emphasis added by me because you seemed to miss it the first time.)

I said that the scanners can detect biological material, not that they can detect explosive material.

This looks bad..

[revmoo]

Great, now I guess only terrorists will have the 360?

Sucks...

Re:This looks bad..

[Toxicgonzo]

Why not, its the perfect terrorist weapon. Just turn it on for a few minutes, let it overheat and hey, you've got a fire hazard capable of taking down a commercial airplane.

Re:This looks bad..

[DrEldarion]

Well, they already use PS2s for missiles, right? They just wanted an upgrade, I suppose.

fully story - no reg needed

[Anonymous Coward]

December 28, 2005 -- A passenger toting an Xbox 360 in a carry-on case sparked a terror alert at MacArthur Airport on Long Island yesterday, forcing a terminal to be evacuated.
Officials say the Chicago-bound flier, worried that his game console might be swiped if he checked it, instead put it in a metal case that he carried through security checkpoints.

At 12:15 p.m., the container passed through an X-ray machine, and screeners thought it might have held a bomb.

"The package looked to be suspicious with wires running through it," said airport spokeswoman Michele Remsen.

Officials evacuated the west wing and called in the bomb squad.

Officers examined the case and deemed it harmless.

Airport worker Kimberley Edwards, 17, who'd been on the job for just three days, said the incident was "frightening."

"Of course I thought it was a terrorist threat,"she said.

Re:fully story - no reg needed

[duffahtolla]

At least they didn't claim it was a weapon and confiscate it.

Re:fully story - no reg needed

[LoRdTAW]

This kinda sucks as my brother is flying back to Florida from NYC in a few days. He wants to take his Xbox 360 back with him (I got it for him as his Christmas gift). The plan was to pack it as carry on luggage but I guess I will go the safe route and Fedex it to him instead.

Re:fully story - no reg needed

[Detritus]

They could have shredded it with a water gun. That's what they often do to suspected bombs.

More on this

[$exyNerdie]

More links here:

http://www.gameshout.com/news/122005/article2184.h tm

http://www.xboxcircle.com/portal/content/view/907/ 1/

SOP for bombs?

[Inoshiro]

SOP seems to be to get such a device away from its handler, stick it into something that'll absorb a blast, and then detonate a second charge such that the original device cannot function and is disabled.

Was this person's Xbox toasted? Will airport security be footing the bill for a replacement?

why it was a carry on

[metalpet]

Probably because of the current policy of having checked-in luggages inspected at will, and the various reports of objects found missing after said inspections.
I'm sure problems that may have happened in the past have been fixed by now, but it still seems often easier to keep your valuables close to you rather than to hope the system is somehow watching the watchers.

There's also the matter of how delicately checked-in luggages get handled, and how some electronic equipment could take offense to it and go on indefinite strike as a result.

In short, checked-in luggages are fine for clothes, shoes and toothbrushes.
Electronic equipment is usually much better off in a carry-on.

Re:why it was a carry on

[Harlockjds]

agreed i would think anyone with half a brain would not check something like a 360. Which means Zork must not have half a brain...

Re:why it was a carry on

[RaNdOm OuTpUt]

Although, many travel advisors say to have SOME clothes carry-on in case your check-in luggage is lost.

Re:why it was a carry on

[Anonymous Coward]

Being a former security screener myself I never check bags anymore, mail or carry-on for me.

obligatory

[interiot]

Someone set us up the 360? For great justice.

gotta wonder if these brainiacs

[NeMon'ess]

Even asked him what it was and if so, why didn't they believe him? He put it in a metal case, so what? That makes it more conspicious. I'm quite sure many folks have taken their PS2s in their carry-on because they didn't want 100 pounds of luggage on top of theirs in the cart-trains out on the tarmac.

Re:gotta wonder if these brainiacs

[Drakin]

Doesn't matter what he said it was. They are suppose to check anythink either suspicious or unidentifiable that shows up on the x-ray. This was both.

I know someone who had their bag searched because of quaters in a pill container.

The real issue is is everyone's overreacting, again.

Just incase anyone missed it

[RickPartin]

There is a very cleaver joke in this headline. Lets see if you can spot it. . .. ... You see bombs sometimes have wicks that "spark" when lit. Get it now? HAHA! So funny! Really!

Re:Just incase anyone missed it

[Anonymous Coward]

No.

I had the opposite experience

[Anonymous Coward]

I flew with my xbox 360 just after christmas and I was pretty worried about exactly this kind of thing happening. I was going to check my bags to avoid the problem, but TSA's guidelines said to carry-on all electronics. I did and things went mostly smoothly (there was a bit of a delay moving my bag through the xray machine but nothing drastic).

I can understand how a screener would be worried. The power supply alone is pretty bombesque.

Do I have to do everything myself...

[GoNINzo]

Someone set up us the bomb!

What you say?!

Bundle your wires

[DustMagnet]

I always bundle my wires and keep them separate from complex electronics. They way the screeners have no trouble telling the wires aren't connected to explosives. These people have a tough job. The quicker they can tell that your bag is safe, the better it is for everyone.

In my checked bags over the holidays, I put all wires and antennas in an outside pocket of my checked bag. Power lumps with attached cords were wrapped and kept away from my hubs, etc. Since I started making an effort to help the X-ray guys, my bags have not been hand searched.

Re:Bundle your wires

[steveo777]

Good call. A while back (a year or two after 9/11) there was a big call for new security in all the airports. I'd been working security at the time and figured a government contract would be better than what I was doing.

I went to apply and ended up testing in. The tests had you looking at a bunch of items and trying to memorize what they looked like. Knives, guns, explosives, and various junk. Then you would look at scans of bags and try to ID not only if there was an object from the list, but what object it was. There was tons of stuff you had to look through, too. Clothes, shoes, everything that people take with them. I did very well on all the tests except for the guns. I don't know jack about guns, so, even if I saw one, I couldn't ID which one it was, and I couldn't find any of them...

Didn't get the job... just thought I'd throw that in there so my fellow /.ers would feel all the more safer.

Same situation with other devices

[Zibara]

I've been stopped at airports for carrying almost any of my electronic devices. My old titanium powerbook caused a bag search on a few occasions. One time, we were carrying this portable chess set with round peices that stacked, which happened to look a lot like explosives on the scanner.

Post-Scan Investigation

[Databass]

"Oh, it's not a bomb, it's an... Xbox 360!"

"We'd, uh, we'd better get this back to the lab for.... additional tsting."

"Yeah....testing."

Old News?

[Premo_Maggot]

This was on Game Politics a week ago.