Dicarlo Bennett Claims Dry Ice Explosions at LAX was a Joke

Dicarlo Bennett Claims Dry Ice Explosions at LAX was a Joke

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Oct 17, 2013

Make no mistake, explosions of any kind near or on a tarmac or near or inside a terminal is never a game or a joke as Dicarlo Bennett has found out. The 28-year-old baggage handler, who passed federal background checks necessary to receive a security badge to access restricted areas, was arrested after he originated dry ice explosions at LAX airport telling police that the bombs were “a game” and “a funny kind of joke.”

“This guy was playing around. It was kind of a game to him. He though it was funny. He had no intent to attack innocent victims. There was no political motive or agenda,” reassured Deputy Chief Michael Downing, Los Angeles police.

A plastic bottle packed with dry ice exploded in an employee bathroom, another blew up on the tarmac and a third plastic bottle was found expanding on the tarmac near the previous explosion.

Fortunately, there were no injuries due to the explosions, but they did cause eyebrows to rise about the airport’s security and their ability to deal with vulnerabilities.

According to police, Bennett used discarded dry ice that was used to maintain food being loaded onto a plane. The airport has changed this procedure, and employees are required to return dry ice to the warehouse after usage.

Bennett is currently being held on a $1 million bail, facing a charge of possession of an explosive or destructive device near an aircraft.

Not sure about you, but I have never seen, much less heard of, a dry ice bomb, so curiously I searched for a video as a demonstration of what Bennett did at LAX. (Be sure to turn up your volume to hear the explosion.)

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/16/travel/los-angeles-airport-dry-ice-arrest/

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/LAX-officials-eye-security-after-dry-ice-bombs-4899332.php

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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