Canadian Pipe Mine Destroyed at Scatsta Airport
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team carried out a controlled explosion at Scatsta Airport in the Shetlands after the suspected discovery of a Canadian pipe mine. Scatsta Airport served as a Royal Air Force (RAF) base during WWII, hosting Fighter squadrons to support operations by Coastal Command.
Pipe mines were installed under critical infrastructure (such as airfield landing grounds) during WWII so that they could be destroyed in the event of an enemy invasion, thereby denying their use to the invaders. Whilst efforts were made to remove many pipe mines after the threat of invasion passed, not all were recovered and they are still occasionally found.
Filled with nitroglycerine (NG) they can become highly unstable over time and are treated with utmost caution when uncovered. In this instance, the EOD team put in place a 1.3km security cordon before destroying the mine.
