"False Positive: Las Vegas airport wing briefly cleared while bag re-screened"

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Vegas airport wing briefly cleared while bag re-screened
The Associated Press 


A gate complex at McCarran International Airport was cleared for 20
minutes Thursday while federal security officials re-screened a suitcase
that at first triggered an alarm for explosives.

A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration in
Washington, D.C., said a machine malfunctioned while reading a swipe
that had been rubbed across a checked-in bag at the Las Vegas airport.

"The trace detection system gave a false-positive,"said David Steigman,
the TSA spokesman."TSA personnel examined the machine and found a
short-circuit."

He said a dog rechecked the swipe in the baggage check-in area, but
didn't detect any trace of explosives.

The passenger whose suitcase was being checked was never alerted or
questioned, Steigman said.

Several hundred passengers were evacuated from the terminal D concourse
until the check was complete, Steigman and airport spokeswoman Hilarie
Grey said.

Grey said aircraft at the gates were held to let passengers make their
flights.

McCarran, the nation's seventh-busiest airport, handled 35 million
passengers in 2001.

The D concourse is one of four gate areas. It is reached by a tram from
the main terminal and serves airlines including American, Delta,
National, Northwest and United.


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