Jet Lands After Fake Explosive Found

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant was stunned to reach into a child’s backpack for crayons and find what looked like an explosive device, prompting an emergency U-turn and landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Airline spokesman Jack Evans explained that the device actually was a training aid being used by Alaska’s security firm to conduct a routine test in the airport terminal. The boy was carrying a backpack identical to the one in the test, Evans said. The boy laid his pack on a security checkpoint conveyor belt at the same time as the “passenger” in the test put the same bag on, and the boy picked up the wrong bag. The boy was traveling unaccompanied on Alaska Flight 444, which departed for Ontario, Calif., with 83 passengers and five crew members aboard.