The ship was carrying Carry_goods a base plate for a telescope being delivered Sending to the La Palma Observatory in the Canary Islands .

A minor change Change had been ordered Request to install Placing a support plate for the handle linkage to make it Causation stronger ; manufacturer documents showed this work as completed Process_end on the aircraft involved Participation in Flight 981 , but the plate had not in fact been installed Placing .

A minor change Change had been ordered Request to install Placing a support plate for the handle linkage to make it Causation stronger ; manufacturer documents showed this work as completed Process_end on the aircraft involved Participation in Flight 981 , but the plate had not in fact been installed Placing .

Within 90 minutes of the explosion , McVeigh was stopped Process_end by Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested Arrest for illegal weapons possession .

A doubler plate on the rear bulkhead of the plane had been improperly repaired Recovering , compromising Influence the plane 's airworthiness .