Airport folliesScorpion sting delays flight

Published 9 January 2007

Non-lethal arachnid hitches a ride from Costa Rica; security fails to detect the beast, but animal control officers manage to find and kill it after attack; HSDW demands action

If airport security is as much about fighting the last war as the next — see, for instance, the mad rush to develop liquid bomb detectors — we cannot wait to see what technology emerges out of this episode. A passenger onboard a Costa Rica to Toronto flight last week was stung by a scorpian that had accidently hitched a ride with another passenger, an outdoorsy type no doubt. The victim was hurt by not in any dangerous straits, and after it was captured and killed animal control officers identified it as a non-lethal species. Nevertheless, we demand that TSA take a strong stance against arachnids. After all, we understand their policy against snakes on the plane has been extremely popular.

-read more in this City News report