Man Tries To Check a Military Missile 'Souvenir' in His Luggage

From Popular Mechanics

• An unidentified man claiming to be an active duty military member tried to get a missile launcher through TSA.

• TSA detained the man for questioning and ultimately let him catch his flight back home sans launcher.

An active duty military member tried to pass a missile launch tube through TSA at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport on July 29. The unidentified man was returning to Jacksonville, Texas, after touring in Kuwait and told TSA officials that he had wanted a service souvenir and so he opted for a piece of a military-grade weapon.

The Griffin missile is manufactured by Raytheon and is described as "a multi-platform, multi-service weapon" that has two variants: The Griffin A and the Griffin B. The former is an aft-eject missile often found on aircraft like the C-130 and the latter is a forward-firing missile found on a variety of fixed-wing aircraft. You can see the missile in action below:

The missile launch tube was in the man's checked luggage but didn't make it on board. TSA agents alerted airport police who found the man and questioned him about the launcher. "Military weapons are not permitted in checked or carry-on bags," TSA said in what should be an obvious statement.

TSA also shared that the launcher was inactive and that it was "confiscated and handed over to the state fire marshal for safe disposal."

This isn't the first time a person tried to bring a weapon (or other odd souvenirs) aboard a plane. In fact, it happens so regularly that the TSA has created a playlist on their official YouTube channel and use their Instagram to chronicle the weird stuff people try to sneak by, like gun shoes, a guitar gun, and knife concealed in a lipstick tube.

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