On December 22, 2001—just months after the 9/11 attacks—Richard Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami with homemade bombs hidden in his shoes.

During the flight, Reid tried to detonate his shoes, but he struggled to light the fuse. Crew members and passengers noticed and restrained him.

The plane diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, and Massachusetts State Police officers took Reid into custody. Reid told FBI agents that he made the shoes himself.

This is the pair of shoes [Richard] Reid—also known as the “shoe bomber”—tried to detonate. FBI bomb techs determined that the shoes contained about 10 ounces of explosive material.

https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/richard-reids-shoes

  • emeralddawn45
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    9 months ago

    This happened to me too several years ago, but apparently there had just been some type of attempted attack with those a few months prior in Belgium and they were a restricted weapon in canada. I did end up getting on the plane but not before being read my rights by some cops and given a very stern talking to. And being shamed for not watching the news lmao.

    • PopShark@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The one I had was tiny and flimsy I mean basically only for opening packages or cutting like paper and cardboard small stuff I imagine in the attempted attack you mentioned theirs was more beefy or something because mine was like a toy or souvenir literally it was corporate branded bs lol

      • emeralddawn45
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        9 months ago

        Ah I mean yeah mine had like a real 1.5 inch blade and was pretty sharp, and the plastic casing around it could like fold down into a handle. It was really cool actually, but I got it off some Chinese website for like $2 years before and it literally was forgotten in my wallet for like 3 years. At least until it seemed to be taking a long time for him to xray my bag and I saw him call someone else over, then it came rushing back in a wave of dread lol.