Heathrow T5 security tackles Transformers t-shirt threat

You can't board wearing that, IT consultant told

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 2nd June 2008 10:55 GMT

Free whitepaper – PowerEdge energy Smart brochure

An IT consultant who attempted to board a British Airways flight to Dusseldorf at Heathrow's T5 wearing a Transformers t-shirt was told to take off the offending apparel or else, The Sun reports.

Brad Jayakody, 30, was travelling with four colleagues and ill-advisedly decided to sport an image of Optimus Prime wielding a menacing cartoon gun.

He explained: "My mate set off the alarms and was searched. But then the guy told me to stop and said ‘you cannot get on the plane because there is a gun on your t-shirt’."

Jayakody then asked to see the security chief, but didn't get the attack of common sense he was expecting. He continued: "I was flabbergasted. I thought the supervisor would come over and see sense, but he didn’t. After I changed he said if I changed back I would be arrested."

He added: "It’s a cartoon robot with a gun as an arm. What was I going to do, use the shirt to pretend I have a gun?"

A spokesman for Heathrow operator BAA offered: "If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it. We are investigating what happened to see if it came under this category."

There's a nice snap of Jayakody and his Transformers top here. ®

Free whitepaper – PowerEdge energy Smart brochure