Pensioner gets through airport security with axe in her hand luggage

Expat pensioner Pat Palmer passed through Luton Airport security with an axe in her hand luggage just hours after printer cartridge bombs were found on planes in the East Midlands and Dubai. The 74 year-old from Cambridgeshire carried the rusty tool in a beach bag on a flight from Luton to Menorca after forgetting to check it into the hold. She only realised her error after leaving the airport in the island capital Mahon.

Mrs Palmer, who took the axe to break up wood for her wood burning stove at her home, said: "I'm still pretty stunned about it all. All I can assume is the scanner man must have been looking up in the air when my bag went through. The axe wasn't even hidden, I'd just thrown it in the bottom of the bag along with a clock and some brass bits I was taking out to decorate my home in Menorca. I swear I had been intending to check it in with my suitcase.



"The only reason I took it on the plane was because my friend's hand holdall was heavier and we ended up checking that in instead." Mrs Palmer and a friend she was travelling with were asked to remove their shoes and belts and empty their pockets before being waved through with the lethal weapon. She added:"It's a bit rusty but I imagine it could still take out the side of a plane with a bit of effort. I'm flying back to Britain on Friday and returning to Menorca on December 3 but the chopper is staying put.

"There's no way I want to slip up like that again, especially with the climate the way it is at the moment." A spokesman for London Luton Airport said: "London Luton Airport maintains the highest standards in its security checks on passengers and luggage boarding flights from the airport. If true, Mrs Palmer's claim would cause grave concern but remains at the moment entirely unsubstantiated."