Man found with explosives at Midland International Airport

Midland Police bomb squad Sgt. Brian Rackow, left talks with other officers outside Midland International Airport Saturday morning following an incident where an active duty military member was stopped by the TSA after the xray machine detected military grade explosives in his carry on bag. Photo by Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram less Midland Police bomb squad Sgt. Brian Rackow, left talks with other officers outside Midland International Airport Saturday morning following an incident where an active duty military member was stopped by the ... more Photo: Tim Fischer Photo: Tim Fischer Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Man found with explosives at Midland International Airport 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

One man was being held in FBI custody Saturday afternoon after security at Midland International Airport found explosives in his carry-on bag and the terminal was shut down for an hour.

The suspect is active military and the explosives were found in his carry-on bag by Transportation Security Administration officers while going through the X-ray machine, Midland police said. The incident happened at 9:26 a.m. Saturday.

The man had been in town visiting family and was traveling back to North Carolina, confirmed MPD Sgt. Brian Rackow.

The explosives were in military-grade wrapping but police said they won’t know what grade until they are sent out for testing.

The items were in MPD possession Saturday afternoon, according to public information officer Tasa Watts.

A bomb-sniffing dog was brought in from the Lubbock Regional Response team Saturday afternoon to assist with the investigation, authorities said.

TSA officials notified law enforncement who evacuated the terminal and closed the checkpoint for one hour while the item was removed and the area was investigated.

The incident remains under investigation, said Lisa Farbstein with the TSA.

A spokesperson for the FBI would not release the man’s name but said he was being detained by officials.

Audrie Palmer can be reached at apalmer@mrt.com.