O'Hare Passenger Tries To Board Plane With Machete In Carry-On: TSA
(CBS) -- Sometimes people leave Swiss Army knives in their carry-on luggage. But it's not every day agents find a machete.
That's what TSA agents found in a carry-on bag at O'Hare International Airport about 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
The man who had the item was going through security, heading to Minneapolis on American Airlines, says TSA spokesperson Mike McCarthy.
"TSA officers detected a machete - more than a foot long - on a passenger traveling through O'Hare," he tells WBBM's Steve Miller.
McCarthy says the machete blade was 14 inches long.
The air traveler left it with the TSA and was not arrested. He was allowed to board his flight for Minneapolis.
In case you're wondering what happens to all the knives and occasional machete confiscated at the airports, McCarthy says after a month or two, they end up at a state agency that handles surplus.
In this case, it is the state of Illinois. The items will be auctioned off.