Feb. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said an 80-year-old woman had no idea there was a sword inside her cane until she tried to take it on a plane.
TSA regional spokesman Mark Howell said during a Thursday event at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach International Airport that an 80-year-old woman recently attempted to bring her cane on a flight she was catching at the airport.
He said TSA agents put the cane through the X-ray machine and discovered that twisting and tugging on the handle revealed a hidden sword inside the cane.
Howell said the cane had been a gift from the woman’s son and she had carried it for years without knowing about its hidden weaponry.
“She had no clue it was in there,” he said at the event.
“It happens a lot, actually,” Howell said of sword cane discoveries. “People pick them up at a thrift store and the sword isn’t found until we X-ray it.”
He said the woman surrendered her cane at the TSA checkpoint and caught her flight.
