Miami Airport's Concourse D Gates Closed After Aerosol Can Explodes

A police action is underway at Miami Airport due to an aerosol can exploding inside a passenger's checked luggage. Some media sources reported that it was a hairspray can that exploded as baggage handlers were loading it onto an American Airlines flight whose plane had just arrived from Boston. The luggage exploded with such intensity that a piece of the suitcase lodged in a baggage handler's shoe, the Miami New Times reported.

American Airlines? Flight origin Boston? Explosion? The circumstances evoke memories of 2001, when American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked after departing Boston's Logan Airport and crashed into the World Trade Center. But for all those whose immediate reaction to hearing of the explosion at Miami International is to question whether it resulted from an act of terrorism, the answer appears to be no. News reports suggest it was merely a can of hairspray or some other aerosol exploding from pressure changes during flight.

NBC Miami reported that hairspray just made the no-fly list at Miami's international airport.

But a quick check of the Transportation Security Administration website reveals that, at least for now, personal care aerosols in reasonable quantities are still permitted on board planes as long as they are packed in checked luggage.

Miami International Airport's Concourse D, where the incident occurred, is open for business, but gates D11 through D19 are closed while the TSA investigates.

The measured reaction may stem in part from the after-the-fact nature of the investigation or possibly from the fact that it's only been three months since the airport closed for a bomb scare. In September, one of the terminals at Miami International Airport was evacuated and four concourses closed after the TSA found metal resembling a pipe in an elderly scientist's luggage. After an investigation, the suspected pipe bomb was declared harmless.

With the TSA's track record in closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, NBC Miami may be correct in surmising that aerosols are due for some strict scrutiny. They are already banned from carry-on luggage due to the risk of explosion. The TSA enacted a limited quantity rule for liquids known as the 3-1-1 rule after British officials discovered a plot to use liquid explosives to blow up a plane. The unpopular 3-1-1 rule is due to be discontinued, but this incident in Miami could result in passengers gaining the right to carry on more liquids while losing the right to bring aerosols aboard altogether.