Defunct Grenade Found At Tweed

A passenger tried to bring a hollowed-out grenade on a Tweed Airport flight to Charleston — prompting security to close the terminal for over an hour on Wednesday morning, while police confirmed that there was no safety threat. 

According to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesperson Daniel Velez, TSA officers spotted an image of a grenade while scanning passengers’ belongings at 8:05 a.m. on Wednesday.

They stopped the security screening, closed the gate, and evacuated passengers and staff to the airport’s Gate 3, calling for assistance from police.

The New Haven bomb squad responded. They checked the grenade and found it to be inert.

“Somebody attempted to bring it through security, thinking that it would be OK” because it was a ​“hollowed-out” grenade, said Tweed spokesperson Andrew King. ​“That’s still not acceptable.” 

“It certainly created a bit of havoc” for passengers, he added.

Velez said that the passenger is 39 years old and was planning to board a flight to Charleston, South Carolina. He said that the passenger told officers that she had been ​“clearing out a farmhouse, and that the hollowed out grenade was going to be presented as a gift.”

She spoke with multiple law enforcement officers and surrendered the defunct grenade to TSA, according to Velez.

“The person brought it in their luggage, not thinking it would be an issue,” said New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson. ​“It’s an inert grenade — people use them as paperweights. It was discovered, and we went there just to make sure it was inert.”

Officials reopened the terminal and checkpoint at 9:20 a.m. The passenger was ultimately able to board her flight to Charleston, which was delayed for nearly four and a half hours, according to Velez.

King stressed that before arriving at an airport, ​“passengers should check the TSA website for things that are allowed and use some common sense for things that look like they might be dangerous.”