Air traffic controller arrested for having weapon of mass destruction

A North Carolina air traffic controller has been arrested and charged with acquiring, possessing and transporting a weapon of mass destruction, according to Charlotte police.

CNN reported that Paul George Dandan, 30, a worker at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, was arrested Friday after police found a homemade pipe bomb at a Charlotte home following a 911 tip.

In a statement, Charlotte Douglas International Airport said that the arrested employee did not have access to any aircraft.

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According to police, Dandan acquired the bomb from a neighbor, who built it to “use it against a neighbor with whom he was involved in an ongoing dispute.”

The neighbor, 39-year-old Derrick Fells, changed his mind about the bomb and instead gave it to Dandan, according to police.

Police did not say whether Dandan intended to use the bomb, whether they know his intentions, or whether he brought the device to the airport.

Federal Aviation Administration officials told CNN that Dandan’s access to Charlotte’s airport “was terminated” in response to the incident.

The FBI’s website describes a weapon of mass destruction as any explosive, incendiary or poisonous weapon containing an explosive or incendiary charge of more than four ounces.

“Any weapons designed or intend to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors,” reads the FBI description.