US customs officials released a photo Monday of a mock improvised explosive device that led to delays at Toronto's Pearson International Airport when it was found in a passenger's luggage this month. US Customs and Border Protection tweeted the photo and praised the officers who spotted the device on April 6. The photo shows electronic components apparently wired to a circuit board with a timer display and coils of wire snaking to bound-together cardboard tubes. The discovery during an inspection at the airport's pre-clearance area caused what was described as a major security breach. Passengers on a United Airlines flight to Chicago were stuck on the tarmac for more than four hours.<br/>
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An Illinois lawmaker on Monday introduced a bill to ban the forcible removal of travelers from flights by state or local government employees after a United passenger was dragged from an aircraft last week. The Airline Passenger Protection Act, sponsored by Republican state Representative Peter Breen, came after Dr. David Dao, 69, was pulled from a United flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to make space for four crew members. The treatment of Dao sparked international outrage, as well as multiple apologies from the carrier, and raised questions about the overbooking policies of airlines. Under Breen's measure, passengers could not be removed from flights unless they were presenting a danger to themselves or others, an emergency was taking place or the passenger had caused a serious disturbance, according to a copy of the bill introduced in the state capital, Springfield. "A commercial airline that removes validly seated customers without serious cause breaches the sacred trust between passengers and their airlines," the bill said. The legislation would also bar the state of Illinois from making travel arrangements, doing business with or having investments in any commercial airline that maintained a policy of removing paying passengers to make room for employees traveling on non-revenue tickets.<br/>
Viral video of a bloodied man being dragged off a United Airlines flight underscores why the city’s aviation security officers should not be armed, Mayor Rahm Emanuel maintained Monday, saying he would await the outcome of a broader review to determine whether the city force should exist at all. In his first public comment about the embarrassing fiasco, Emanuel branded the incident involving Dr David Dao as “totally, all-around unacceptable.” The mayor praised Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans for placing three aviation security officers who boarded the plane — even though they are not supposed to get involved in customer service complaints — on paid administrative leave. “There’s been some question by some people over the last couple of years about allowing those aviation officers to carry a gun. … My administration has opposed that. I think that’s pretty clear that’s wrong,” the mayor said. The mayor was careful not to criticize United — not when city employees were partly to blame for the fiasco. “We have our work ahead of us. My focus is making sure that, what we do at aviation is the correct thing to do. Ginger did the right thing by suspending the three employees that violated the rules and second, having a top to bottom review of what the rules are going forward,” the mayor said.<br/>