3 fail explosives detector test, banned from boarding aircraft

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-8-4  |     ONLINE EDITION

THREE passengers were banned from boarding a flight at an airport in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last night after they failed a test by explosive trace detectors, according to a newspaper report.

The flight was originally scheduled to take off at 8:30pm from Urumqi for Chongqing, but it was delayed until 10pm, Chongqing Daily reported today.

According to a passenger, air hostesses and security personnel started checking passengers' hands, especially the part between the thumb and the index finger, with explosive trace detectors at 8:20pm, it said.

``When they examined the three passengers behind me, I heard security staff asking them what they had touched before,'' a passenger named Xu Peng told the newspaper. ``They were all about 30 years old. Two were a little fat and another was thinner. They were of medium height and they spoke in the Chongqing dialect.''

Without talking much, the three were taken away. Soon all passengers were ordered off the flight. The aircraft and all passengers were checked again, it said.

``Later an air hostess told us the three were detained because traces of explosives were found on their hands,'' Xu told the paper.

Following an hour's wait, more than 100 passengers were allowed to re-board the plane.

``The safety checks were even stricter this time as every one was required to take off their shoes and belts. It took about five minutes to check each passenger,'' Xu told the newspaper.

He told the newspaper that one of the three men was heard complaining over a cell phone. ``The guy said he worked in the real estate industry and came to Urumqi on a business trip,'' Xu told the newspaper. ``He said it was unfair for the airport authority to ban them from boarding the plane.''
Officials at Urumqi Airport have not commented on the incident, the report said.

Employees at the information department told the newspaper the flight delay was due to security checks.