An Austrian man caused a security scare at Frankfurt Airport last Saturday after claiming he had three grenades on him as he was passing through the security screening checkpoint to catch his flight.
The reason the passenger made the alarming claim was, bizarrely, because he was aggrieved at the long lines to get through the checkpoint and how long it was taking the line of other passengers ahead of him to move.
If there’s a surefire way to ensure the security checkpoint grinds to a complete halt, it is to claim that you are armed with three hand grenades. The checkpoint was quickly put in lockdown, and German police were called to give the hapless passenger a thorough search.
The 37-year-old Austrian and his travel companions missed their flight as a result of the security search, and he now faces criminal prosecution for making a threat.
In a statement, the German federal police said passengers should remain patient even if the security line is slow moving: “If it takes a little longer than usual, you should think carefully about what “jokes” you make,” a statement from the Bundes Polizei read.
Germany’s aviation industry has struggled to fully recover from the pandemic, and ground operations at many of the nation’s airports remain short-staffed. The situation has been made worse by a series of damaging strikes which have already caused large-scale disruption.
Security staff at several German airports, including Frankfurt Am Main, have staged several walkouts in a dispute over low pay over the last couple of years. The United Services Union says security companies must pay their workers more if they are to attract job applicants to ease understaffing woes.
