NATIONAL
April 29, 2010 | Richard A. Serrano
An Air Force reservist working for a defense contractor in Africa was charged Wednesday with making bomb threats on a flight to the U.S. that prompted four air marshals to barricade his boots and laptop in the rear of the jetliner for fear any explosives might go off in midair. Derek Michael Stansberry, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as an Air Force intelligence specialist, allegedly said that he had packed dynamite in his boots and other explosives in his laptop, and that he had a "pressure switch" to detonate the devices.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 20, 2009 | By Scott Glover
The husky-voiced caller warned police that LAX travelers were in grave danger: "There's a bomb. . . . You need to find it or people will die." It was the second such threat directed at Los Angeles International Airport that day -- June 22 -- and the fourth in less than two weeks. Each time, cops, federal agents and bomb-sniffing dogs scoured the terminal. Each time, they came up empty-handed: no suspects, no explosives. In fact, the vast majority of bomb threat cases go unsolved, according to local and federal officials.
NATIONAL
January 2, 2009 | Nicholas Riccardi
A 72-year-old man who shot himself to death early Thursday was blamed for planting four bombs around Aspen, Colo., forcing the evacuation of downtown and the cancellation of New Year's Eve festivities there. Police said he left a note at the local newspaper insisting "I was and am a good man." Jim Blanning had feuded with officials for years, reportedly angry that the laid-back town of his birth had transformed itself into a glitzy destination for wealthy vacationers.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 19, 2008 | Cara Mia DiMassa, Times Staff Writer
Passengers and luggage were ordered removed from a Qantas airliner and its interior was searched by federal authorities Friday after a threat was made against the flight, according to officials at Los Angeles International Airport. The six-hour search found no explosives, authorities said. There were 347 passengers and 20 crew members aboard the plane, which was at the gate preparing for its scheduled 10 a.m.
NATIONAL
April 21, 2008 | From Times Wire Reports
A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said. Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they found the journal, authorities said.
NATIONAL
December 24, 2007 | From Times Wire Reports
A Southwest Airlines flight with 137 passengers headed to Hartford, Conn., made an emergency landing Saturday in Omaha after someone who missed the flight made a bomb threat, an airline spokeswoman said. No explosives were found.