Yesterday's potential bomb on an Air Berlin flight from Namibia to Germany turns out to have been an American-made "dummy" used by security officials for training, BBC reports.

The "bomb" consists of a detonator, wires, and a ticking clock and is put in a suitcase and through the system to measure the efficiency of an airport's security. The device did not contain explosives and was detected before being put on the plane, so score one for Namibian airport security. But here's the catch--there was no security test going on. So either it was put on by accident (unlikely) or someone decided to create a scare. Local police are investigating and with tourism being such a big money maker in Namibia, whoever was responsible faces some serious consequences. I wonder what the inside of a Namibian jail looks like?

The first wind we had of this new development came from Gadling reader Sabrina, who read about it on German news. Vielen Dank, Sabrina!

Filed under: Africa, Europe, Namibia, Germany, Airlines, Transportation, Airports, News