Airline blames U.S. security for breach at Dulles

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The British airline Virgin Atlantic yesterday blamed U.S. security procedures at Washington Dulles International Airport for failing to detect bullets that a Sudanese man was arrested for carrying after his trans-Atlantic flight landed in London.

The passenger was detained and arrested on terrorism-related charges yesterday at Heathrow Airport by British police who discovered the ammunition during a security check as the 45-year-old man attempted to board the flight to his destination, Dubai.

"Screening of passengers at Washington Dulles airport is the responsibility of the Transportation Security Administration," said a statement by Virgin Atlantic, which also said that the "item seized" did not pose a threat to its aircraft.

A TSA spokesman said "several pieces of ammunition" were discovered after the "uneventful flight," but would not speculate as to how the bullets could have circumvented security at Dulles, where several flights were canceled last month because of concerns of a terrorist attack.

"That is being investigated; there is just too much we don't know right now," the TSA spokesman said.

U.S. law-enforcement sources said the suspect might have carried as many as five bullets of two different calibers in a coat pocket while aboard Virgin Atlantic Flight VS022. The bullets were discovered when the garment was put through an X-ray machine.

The suspect originally was detained and questioned under a British firearms law, then arrested and charged with the involvement, commission, preparation or instigation in acts of terrorism.

"A quantity of suspected ammunition was found in his possession. The items are being forensically examined," a police statement said.

A London to Washington air route was identified as a likely target of a terrorist attack during the Christmas and New Year's holidays and prompted an increase in the nation's security-alert status from elevated to high. The terrorist threat was lowered Friday and no major incidents were reported.