"Palm Springs airport evacuated after mystery security breach"

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Airport evacuated after mystery security breach
By Nelsy Rodriguez
The Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun


PALM SPRINGS -- Security personnel evacuated hundreds of people from Palm
Springs International Airport early Monday, after a person chosen for random
screening slipped in with a crowd and avoided the security area.

Nico Melendez, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration in
Los Angeles, said 250 people, including passengers aboard two flights
readying to depart, were evacuated and delayed for more than an hour during
the last-resort evacuation.

At 6:45 a.m., a person selected for random security screening slipped out of
the secure area where passengers are waved down by magnetic wands, Melendez
said.

Airport security personnel couldn't identify the passenger who slipped away.
So they called for an evacuation of the airport to assure everyone was
properly screened.

Ten outbound flights, including two that were already boarded and had to be
evacuated, were delayed about an hour and 15 minutes while security checked
everyone trying to fly out of Palm Springs, Melendez said.

Inbound flights were not affected, he said.

The passenger was never identified but because the second wave of screening
caught everyone, no threat was found and operations were back to pace after
8 a.m., Melendez said.

Melendez said evacuations are one of several last resorts by the TSA but
they are not infrequent.

"I think it's safe to say... (a passenger bypassing the security area) is
serious enough to evacuate 250 people out of a terminal to make sure that
everyone is screened appropriately," Melendez said. "It shouldn't cause any
concern because that's why we take the steps necessary."

Melendez said every couple of weeks an airport is evacuated for a myriad of
reasons. 

"It's not uncommon to have these sorts of things," he said.


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