Airline took woman’s tweezers… but let her board with knife
A worried Ulsterwoman last night told how she was able to carry a razor-sharp knife onto a packed Aer Lingus holiday jet.
Shocked Sally McManus, who uses the knife for work, only discovered the deadly blade in her hand-luggage once she had arrived at her hotel in Croatia.
Sally (42), who was travelling with her partner Johnny for a week’s holiday, hit out at Dublin Airport’s security scanners for not spotting the knife.
The razor-sharp blade is similar to those previously used by terrorists to hijack planes on 7/11.
There are also fears the Republic could be targeted by Islamic terrorists over the Dublin government’s decision to allow the US Air Force to refuel at Shannon during so-called “extraordinary rendition” flights.
Sally said she was frightened to discover how easy it was to bring the potentially-lethal item onto a plane.
She said: “I keep this item in my purse, because I need it for work.
“I completely forgot about it being in my hand-luggage when we went to the airport.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the knife once we got to the hotel.
“It left me very frightened that I was able to bring this item on with such ease.
“I don’t understand how the security people could take my tweezers and nail clippers off me - yet could not detect a craft knife.
“I made sure the knife was not in my hand-luggage on the way back and I would like to hope Dublin Airport does something about its scanners.”
Added Sally: “If I was able to get one of these items onboard a plane, what’s to stop some hijacker doing it in the future?”
Dublin Airport spokeswoman Ciara Carroll promised to investigate the claims.
She told Sunday Life: “We obviously can’t comment on our security measures at the airport, but we do take the issue of security very seriously.
“We would like Ms McManus to write to us so that we can properly investigate her claims and find out exactly what happened at the airport.”
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