Object found at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport proves not to be dangerous

A device that appeared to look like a hand grenade was found at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport but, proved to be something else.

“It was a dummy hand grenade welded to a trailer hitch receiver,” says Craig Piper, the Assistant Airport Director.

Piper says the device was found last month while a passenger was traveling back home.

He says when they went through the security screening they found the device that appeared to look suspicious and immediately went through a series of steps to make sure everyone was safe.

“They contacted law enforcement and went through the vetting procedures in this case, the terminal was evacuated for a period of time,” he says.

Piper says when something looks out of the ordinary, the Transportation Security Administration or TSA goes through a series of security steps to make sure passengers aren’t traveling with things they shouldn’t be.

“I know that security is looking for things so I take a conscious effort to not bring things that would raise suspicion,” says Mike Garafolo.

Garafalo is traveling back to Texas. He says whenever he gets on an airplane he thoroughly checks all of his luggage.

“To bring that into the airport and to think about how things are perceived because they are looking for things that look suspicious and that certainly is suspicious,” he says about the device that was found.

This isn’t his first time traveling out of the airport and he says every time he does he feels safe.

“Everything is scanned and I feel secure I think they are doing a good job,” he says.

Airport officials say they work together as a team with TSA and local law enforcement to make sure everyone remains safe.

“We the county, the airport, are responsible for security. We are governed by the TSA and there are regulations we have to comply with. The TSA does the screening here but, we have law enforcement here during the screening process so it’s the three entities that work together,” says Piper.

He says this is a good time, especially before the holidays to remind everyone to be careful of what they pack when they are getting ready to board a flight.

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