Man charged in Pearson security breach granted bail
Posted April 7, 2017 12:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A 58-year-old American man charged after a security breach at Pearson International Airport on Thursday has been granted bail.
Joseph Galaska from Cudahy, Wis., was charged with mischief after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found a mock improvised explosive device (IED) inside his suitcase. He was a passenger on United Airlines flight 547 from Toronto to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
He appeared at a Brampton court on Friday and will be released once a bail of $5,000 is paid. As part of his conditions, he cannot possess any weapons or explosives.
His next court appearance is on April 24.
Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Transport Canada will be looking into the security breach.
“We need to get to the bottom of this situation and that’s what our Transport Canada inquiry is going to do,” Garneau said in Ottawa on Thursday. “We take security at our airports extremely seriously.”
U.S. custom officials said the mock IED was discovered during inspection at the pre-clearance facility at Pearson. It has since been tested negative for explosives.
The security issue caused lengthy delays for passengers on board the flight, who said they sat for four hours on the tarmac before being offloaded to an isolation area where they spent an additional several hours.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which oversees the running of the airport, said the incident aboard the United airlines flight did not impact other airport operations.
