Components that potentially could be made into a pipe bomb were found in the luggage of a man preparing to fly from Orlando International Airport to Jamaica on Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. ( Reuters )
The Transportation Security Administration confirmed only that "suspicious" items were found in a search of the man's luggage.
FBI spokesman David Couvertier, whose agency is handling the case, said the items "generated a high level of concern," but he declined to confirm the newspaper's report that the suspicious items included "unassembled pipes with end caps, metal ball bearings and other potentially explosive materials."
The man, whose name was not released, was taken into custody by Orlando Police and turned over to the FBI, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones.
He was ticketed on an Air Jamaica flight scheduled to leave Orlando for Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the TSA, an officer keeping watch for suspicious behaviour singled out the man for luggage inspection. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said the man was preparing to check the luggage when he was detained.
Passengers were evacuated from a section of the airport terminal around the Air Jamaica, Air Canada and Air Frontier ticket counters, and 11 flights were delayed, Fennell said.