Wellington Airport called in the Defence Force but didn’t evacuate staff or the public when a military practice bomb was found in a passenger’s bag during the busy holiday period.
A worker alleges bosses ignored safety procedures, while Wellington Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are standing by how they handled the incident and claim no one was put at risk.
The prohibited device was found in a passenger’s checked bag on December 27, which the Herald understands was flagged during the airport’s baggage screening.
Police say they were notified of “an item of concern” at 10.16am, and the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squad were called in.
Nearly two hours later at 12.05pm, experts cleared the device after discovering it was an “Aircraft Practice Bomb”, an NZDF spokeswoman said.
During the nearly two-hour period, the airport operated as normal, as holidaying passengers continued to pass through the terminal above the baggage screening area.
The airport said there was no need to evacuate, while the CAA said it secured the immediate area.
An Aircraft Practice Bomb is a non-explosive dummy designed to replicate a lethal military explosive in training scenarios. They are banned on board commercial aircraft and police say they confiscated the device found at Wellington Airport.
The NZDF established that while the mock-bomb found in the luggage would have had “live” components like a blasting cap and initiator when it was used in the past, it had since been made inert.
The NZDF spokeswoman said the practice bomb was filled with lead, “which matched the weight of a live bomb”.
An airport worker, who has asked to remain anonymous out of fear of impacting their job, claims passengers “were put at risk” and said those who witnessed the incident “were gobsmacked” at how those in charge handled it.
The worker believes staff from the immediate area should have been evacuated and bag screening and aircraft loading put on hold.
The worker also believed officials could have considered evacuating parts of the passenger terminal while they waited for the bomb squad.
“Everything that we train for, everything we do comes down to what happened on that day and they just totally ignored our procedure, our rules, everything about it, they just did the opposite,” the worker claimed.
“I felt my life was actually in danger if [the bomb had been] real.”
“I just felt that given the busy time of year, they were putting essentially profit over people.”
They said working at the airport is often a thankless job, and the handling of this incident has led them to feel “disheartened”.
“What’s the point if this is the way they’re going to treat serious incidents?”
They said the incident made them feel that those in charge are “more desperate to remove lighters and lithium batteries than they are bombs”.
Wellington Airport initially would not answer questions about the incident, referring queries to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which also would not share details of its protocols, citing security reasons.
It did confirm the screening was reviewed afterwards with the CAA team and partner agencies, in an effort to “identify any learnings”, in line with normal practice.
“A determination was made that an evacuation was not necessary,” the spokeswoman said.
“There was no risk to staff and passengers.”
Wellington Airport said “it was determined there was not an immediate risk justifying a full evacuation”.
The airport has refused to say how it was determined not to be a risk, before the bomb squad had arrived and assessed the object. Nor would it answer questions on why it was necessary to call the bomb squad but not evacuate.
“For security reasons we absolutely cannot release details on our protocols in this kind of situation,” a spokesman said in response.
“Doing so could risk encouraging malicious or mischievous behaviour.”
In response to further questions, a CAA spokeswoman said while there was no evacuation, staff secured the immediate area as it was assessing the risk.
In response to the worker’s allegations, Wellington Airport’s spokesman said “safety is the top priority for Wellington Airport and other agencies”.
“In this case there was no risk to the public,” the spokesman said.
Even if there was an evacuation, the spokesman said, there would be no costs and penalties for the airport, and this was not a consideration in the handling of the incident.
The CAA would not directly address claims from the worker that the situation was not handled in line with proper process, nor would it share details of subsequent “security learnings”.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.