"Bomb Threat Forces Maine Airport Evacuation"

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

'Mohamed Atta' bomb threat forces Portland airport evacuation
The Associated Press


PORTLAND, Maine --The Portland International Jetport was back to normal
Wednesday following a late-night bomb threat that reportedly bore the name
of the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.

The airport was evacuated Tuesday night and passengers arriving by plane
were shuttled to a nearby hotel. The ensuing police search failed to turn up
anything.

South Portland police received a hang-up 911 call at about 9:30 p.m. that
led them to a pay phone at a strip mall where they found a note warning of a
threat against the airport at 11 p.m., said Jeff Monroe, Portland's
transportation director.

Monroe said he was told secondhand that the note was signed by "Mohamed
Atta," but South Portland police Sgt. Ed Sawyer would not discuss the
specifics of the note.

Atta passed through the Portland airport the morning of Sept. 11, 2001,
before joining other terrorists in Boston and hijacking a plane that was
flown into the World Trade Center in New York. The photograph of Atta
passing through an airport checkpoint, taken by a security camera, is one of
the enduring images from that day.

Late Tuesday night, Portland police, along with South Portland, Maine State
Police and Cumberland County Sheriff's Department bomb-detection dogs, began
searching the terminal, the parking garage and eight planes that were parked
at the airport, Monroe said.

During the search, a total of 375 passengers on eight inbound planes were
taken by bus from the runway directly to the nearby Embassy Suites instead
of the terminal, Monroe said. Baggage handlers took luggage from the plane
directly to the hotel, where it was distributed to passengers.

The search ended at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday, about 15 minutes after the final
flight landed.

Monroe said the search and evacuation went smoothly, but everybody waited
anxiously while standing outside the airport at 11 p.m. -- the time the note
indicated a bomb would go off.

"I was wondering if I should put my fingers in my ears," Monroe said.

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