Explosive found in carry-on bag at Anchorage airport

By Steve Quinn

JUNEAU, Alaska, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Security agents atAlaska's largest commercial airport closed the lone securitycheckpoint for nearly two hours on Sunday after discovering anoil field worker packing an explosive device.

The "possible threat item" was detected as the passenger'scarry-on bag was being screened at Ted Stevens AnchorageInternational Airport on Sunday afternoon, said Ann Davis, aTransportation Security Administration spokeswoman.

The device appeared to be a pipe bomb and the passenger toldauthorities it was a device used to trigger avalanches, saidAirport Manager John Parrott.

The checkpoint area was evacuated and the city's explosiveordinance team took the device to a remote area for disposal,officials said.

The passenger had a ticket to fly on Shared ServicesAviation, a joint service between energy companiesConocoPhillips and BP, which transports employeesand contractors.

Both firms are oilfield operators on Alaska's oil-rich NorthSlope.

ConocoPhillips confirmed that the passenger was scheduled tofly on Shared Services to Deadhorse, Alaska.

"An initial investigation has confirmed that the item inquestion was a device typically used for avalanche control andthat there was no ill will intended," Conoco spokeswoman AmyBurnett said in an email.

Airport police and fire chief Jesse Davis told the AnchorageDaily News newspaper that the passenger said the device did nothave a triggering mechanism.

"It appeared ... that it wasn't an immediate danger to thetraveling public," he said.

Anchorage's airport serves 45 domestic and internationalcarriers, nearly five million passengers annually and is theworld's fourth largest airport in terms of cargo, according toits website.