RICHMOND, Va. -- The end of the year brings about a lot of stories that include end-of-the-year lists. What were the biggest stories of 2022? Which celebrities died in 2022? What were the best restaurants in 2022?
Now Richmond International Airport (RIC) has made one of those lists.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced something discovered at the Richmond airport made the Top 10 List of Most Unusual Items Found at Security Checkpoints.
"A TSA officer who was staffing the checkpoint X-ray machine at the airport, spotted what appeared to be a knife inside a man’s carry-on bag," a TSA spokesperson said about the discovery made at RIC in November 2022. "The contents of the bag were searched, but at first no knife was spotted until each item in the carry-on bag was separated and re-introduced through the X-ray machine."
An X-ray showed a knife inside someone's laptop.
"After obtaining tools that could disassemble the laptop, a double-edged knife was found to have been artfully concealed inside the guts of the computer," the spokesperson continued. "The traveler initially claimed that he had no idea that there was a knife inside his laptop, however after the knife was revealed, he confirmed that the knife was his."
The discovery at RIC came in as the 5th most unusual item. You can see the complete list here.
In December, the TSA announced agents had discovered 23 guns at RIC checkpoints throughout the year.
That number, the spokesperson indicated, was a new annual record for the number of firearms stopped at the airport’s security checkpoints.
Passengers are allowed to travel with guns if the firearms are:
- In checked baggage
- Unloaded
- Packed in a hard-sided locked case
- Packed separately from ammunition
- Taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared
