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

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.

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/

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: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.