Virgin Blue aircraft incident

From Sky News:

EXPLOSIVES SCARE ON PLANE

A crude incendiary device has been found in the cargo hold of an Australian Virgin Blue airliner to Sydney.

The device consisted of a cardboard roll stuffed with thermite – a chemical used in grenades – attached to a fireworks sparkler.

It went undetected by security and was loaded at a regional airport in Queensland.

A baggage handler discovered the device when the flight landed in Sydney and then breached security procedures by taking it into the terminal.

Transport minister John Anderson said the device appeared to have been a hoax and security would have picked up a real bomb.

“At this stage on my advice you are not looking at something that could have potentially blown a plane out of the air having got through security,” he said.

“I am relatively confident that if this had been a serious nasty, our security arrangements would have picked it up.

“The judgement was formed that this was a hoax.”

Virgin Blue said it believed a disgruntled airport worker was responsible and probably wanted the device to be found.

“It was not something that goes boom, it was something that burns, which means somebody had to be there to light it,” spokesman David Huttner said.

Police are investigating the incident.