The arrest of a man attempting to smuggle bomb-making materials onto a flight from Orlando, Florida, to Jamaica, can be attributed to the government's behavioral screening program, says [1]the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Police grabbed Kevin Johnson, 32, an Iraq war veteran who recently worked as a contractor in Iraq, while he walked through a terminal at Orlando International Airport. Behavior detection officers operating under TSA's Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) [2] program had spotted his erratic behavior and requested his bags searched.

Inside his baggage, investigators found plenty of evidence necessary for Johnson's arrest. According to the Orlando Sentinel [3]:

A luggage search ... turned up: - Two galvanized pipes. - End caps with holes drilled in them. - BBs. - A model-rocket igniter. - Batteries. - Lighter fluid. - A lighter. - Two vodka bottles with flammable nitromethane. - Instructions on making explosives.

Johnson's arrest affidavit says [4] he wanted to show friends in Jamaica how to build pipe bombs similar to ones he came across in Iraq. Some media outlets (here [5] and here [3]) speculate Johnson's motivation was revenge. His mother was murdered in Jamaica in 2005 by employees of the hotel she co-owned.

TSA's Evolution of Security blog says [1]what occurred Tuesday shows the value of behavior detection officers and TSA's layered approach to security.

This is an excellent example of the layers of security [6] in action throughout the airport. This is also a good example of using specially trained Behavior Detection Officers [7] to look for people with hostile intent as well as the items they intend to use. It's a further testament that the behavior detection program [2] works ...

Johnson's family insists he is not a terrorist and that Johnson suffers from depression related to his service in Iraq and the murder of his mother.