Turns out that last week the CIA left explosive materials under the hood of a school bus in Loudon County, Virginia. The explosive materials were being used as part of a training exercise at Briar Woods Highschool.
The training exercise was designed to train bomb-sniffing dogs. This particular incident, however, wasn’t the dog’s fault. The bomb sniffing dogs apparently did find the explosives and alerted their human teammates. Most of the bomb material, a putty-type explosive (such as c-4) was removed but a smaller portion of it fell deeper into the engine compartment and became wedged underneath a hose.
To make matters worse, the putty was actually the same color as the hose. So when the bus drivers did their daily checkups, which apparently includes looking underneath the hood, they missed the putty explosives. The bus was driven for two days, March 28 and March 29, and made eight runs, totaling 145 miles. The bus usually carried 26 students.
The explosive material was discovered only during a routine maintenance checkup. A maintenance technician discovered the explosive material during an inspection. The local sheriff and fire department were notified, and with the help of the CIA, the explosive material was successfully removed. All other buses were checked as a precaution.
Owing to the type of explosives involved, which require special detonators, experts do not believe that students were in any danger at any point. No one was hurt in the incident, though parents and school administrators are understandably upset. The CIA has expressed its regrets.
