"Security breach triggers evacuation at Oakland airport"

Friday, September 17, 2004

Security breach triggers evacuation at Oakland airport
The Associated Press


OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland International Airport was evacuated and all
flights were grounded for about an hour after a suspicious item passed
through a security checkpoint, authorities said.

About 8:50 p.m. Thursday, an airport screener saw a "threatening image" on a
video monitor from an item that had passed through an X-ray machine. When
airport officials could not match the image to a bag or passenger, they
evacuated both terminals and grounded all departing flights around 9 p.m.,
said Darrin Kayser, a spokesman for the Transportation Security
Administration.

Airport officials also evacuated passengers who had already boarded planes,
and passengers on incoming flights were not allowed to disembark, said
Oakland airport spokeswoman Cyndy Johnson.

All passengers waited outside the terminals while security officers and
bomb-sniffing dogs searched the airport. The passengers were allowed back
into the airport to be re-screened shortly after 10 p.m., when officials
determined that the area was secure, Johnson said.

By 11 p.m. security officials still hadn't located the passenger or bag
linked to the suspicious item. The "threatening image" looked like a weapon,
but was not an explosive, Kayser said.

"Our screeners are extremely diligent in their efforts to ensure that no
prohibited items or weapons get on board the aircraft," Kayser said. "They
are keenly aware of the need for security in the post-9/11 world and take
seriously their role on the front lines on the war on terror."


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************