WASHINGTON: A passenger who had a stick of dynamite and a tube of ammonium nitrate in his luggage was arrested on Friday in Houston after getting off a Continental Airlines flight from Buenos Aires, US and Argentine authorities said.

The man, a US college student from Connecticut, was being held by immigration and customs authorities and could face charges, in the latest security scare on an American aircraft, said FBI Agent Shauna Dunlap in Houston, Texas.

“We are not certain of his motives, but carrying an explosive device onto an aircraft is a violation of law,” Ms Dunlap said.

“There was a stick of dynamite, there were some other items,” she said.

“He does have an explanation,” she said, but added that carrying explosives onto an aircraft was forbidden in all circumstances.—AFP