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College Student Charged in Box Cutter Case
Aired October 20, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Some saw it as a chilling hoax, others as an even more frightening wakeup call. Four days after box cutters and other suspicious items were found aboard two planes, a college student charged in the case is due in court this hour. Mike Brooks is following the story for us from CNN Center in Atlanta.
Mike, the student's name is Nathaniel Heatwole. What is he being charged with?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, he's facing a charge, a 10-year felony, of carrying a weapon on an aircraft. Now, in the statute, it reads that he would have access, that he could put this in a place that he would have access to it. And that's what investigators are saying.
In an affidavit that we read a little earlier, he told investigators that on September 14 and September 12, he took items through checkpoints on the 12th through Raleigh-Durham and on the 14th through Baltimore-Washington International Airport, took them through security checkpoints at each of these airports and put them in the rear lavatory of a plane on each date. Now, apparently one was underneath of a seat, the other one was right behind the toilet in the rear lavatory, places that are not normally checked, we're told by sources, during a security sweep of the plane that is done daily.
So this is something they're taking very, very seriously. As I said, this is a felony that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So Mike, were authorities tipped off about these items on the planes?
BROOKS: Well, they were. First of all, they found the one item during routine maintenance. Then they checked another plane, found that also during routine maintenance. But apparently, the Transportation Security Administration had received an e-mail on September 15. And in that e-mail, Nathaniel Heatwole actually put his name in the e-mail and he said that he had done this six times between February 7 and September 14.
That's a long time, Judy, to have had these onboard the plane. But the question remains, why didn't the Transportation Security Administration take quicker action? A source told CNN earlier in the week that they're planning on revamping their training for the people to take in the telephone calls and e-mail at their contact center to basically give more attention to e-mails such as this when they receive them.
Now, on the 12th, he took two box cutters, some molding clay, some strike-anywhere matches and a note through security. And on the 14th, he took three box cutters, molding clay to simulate plastic explosives and strike-anywhere matches -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So Mike, in terms of his motivation, what's known?
BROOKS: Well, he told -- a source told me that he told investigators that he was trying to help. He was actually trying to test the security of the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints at these different airports. The six incidents occurred between Raleigh-Durham Airport and Baltimore Washington International. And that's what seems to be his motivation right now -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: And a college student at that.
BROOKS: Yes.
WOODRUFF: All right. Mike Brooks, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 20, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Some saw it as a chilling hoax, others as an even more frightening wakeup call. Four days after box cutters and other suspicious items were found aboard two planes, a college student charged in the case is due in court this hour. Mike Brooks is following the story for us from CNN Center in Atlanta.
Mike, the student's name is Nathaniel Heatwole. What is he being charged with?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, he's facing a charge, a 10-year felony, of carrying a weapon on an aircraft. Now, in the statute, it reads that he would have access, that he could put this in a place that he would have access to it. And that's what investigators are saying.
In an affidavit that we read a little earlier, he told investigators that on September 14 and September 12, he took items through checkpoints on the 12th through Raleigh-Durham and on the 14th through Baltimore-Washington International Airport, took them through security checkpoints at each of these airports and put them in the rear lavatory of a plane on each date. Now, apparently one was underneath of a seat, the other one was right behind the toilet in the rear lavatory, places that are not normally checked, we're told by sources, during a security sweep of the plane that is done daily.
So this is something they're taking very, very seriously. As I said, this is a felony that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So Mike, were authorities tipped off about these items on the planes?
BROOKS: Well, they were. First of all, they found the one item during routine maintenance. Then they checked another plane, found that also during routine maintenance. But apparently, the Transportation Security Administration had received an e-mail on September 15. And in that e-mail, Nathaniel Heatwole actually put his name in the e-mail and he said that he had done this six times between February 7 and September 14.
That's a long time, Judy, to have had these onboard the plane. But the question remains, why didn't the Transportation Security Administration take quicker action? A source told CNN earlier in the week that they're planning on revamping their training for the people to take in the telephone calls and e-mail at their contact center to basically give more attention to e-mails such as this when they receive them.
Now, on the 12th, he took two box cutters, some molding clay, some strike-anywhere matches and a note through security. And on the 14th, he took three box cutters, molding clay to simulate plastic explosives and strike-anywhere matches -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So Mike, in terms of his motivation, what's known?
BROOKS: Well, he told -- a source told me that he told investigators that he was trying to help. He was actually trying to test the security of the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints at these different airports. The six incidents occurred between Raleigh-Durham Airport and Baltimore Washington International. And that's what seems to be his motivation right now -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: And a college student at that.
BROOKS: Yes.
WOODRUFF: All right. Mike Brooks, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
