A TELEX message from Slovakian airport authorities warning that explosives were on an aircraft bound for Dublin airport was sent to baggage handlers instead of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) or Airport Police, it has emerged.
The Slovakian ministry of the interior claimed yesterday that the controversy had arisen because of a “stupid and unprofessional” mistake by a dog handler at the airport in eastern Slovakia, from which Saturday morning’s flight departed.
The ministry has apologised to the Slovak man in whose luggage the 96g (3.4 ounces) of high-grade explosives were planted, without his knowledge, as part of sniffer dog training.
It criticised the Garda Síochána, saying they had arrested the man for “an incomprehensible reason” despite being told he was completely innocent. Tibor Mako, head of the Slovakian Border Guard, said the border police dog-handler found one batch of explosives in the passenger’s bag but was called to another matter and “forgot” to remove a second batch. The officer informed the airport authorities of his error, but not his superiors.
If his superior officers had known, they “would have given an order to postpone the flight”, Col Mako told The Irish Times.
“Security at Dublin airport are partly responsible . . . as they failed to discover the explosives during the luggage check,” he added.
The DAA said there was no breach of security because security checks are not carried out at airports on arriving passengers.
Garda sources defended the arrest of the 49-year-old Slovak electrician at the centre of the case at his flat in Dorset Street in Dublin’s north inner city on Tuesday.
“We couldn’t be sure that the call to Dublin airport was genuinely from the Slovak authorities. When somebody is found with explosives here he is arrested, it’s that simple,” a Garda source said.
The airport border police realised some explosives had made it on to the Dublin-bound Danube Wings flight before it took off. The pilot was informed but decided the explosives did not pose a safety risk and departed as planned.
The telex warning of the explosives on board was sent to Servisair in Dublin, which handles baggage for Danube Wings, while the flight was in the air. It was not until Tuesday that the DAA were contacted by the Slovakians and the matter was passed to gardaí.
A Servisair spokesman said the company believed the material was a substance that mimicked plastic explosives for the purposes of training sniffer dogs. He added the that aircraft should not have flown with explosives on board