YIKES! Atlanta Airport Shut Down!

[troy mcclure]

From WSB-TV in Atlanta:

ATLANTA -- A security screener discovered what's being called a 'suspicious package' at a security checkpoint setting off a major security alert at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Darrin Kayser of the TSA says a screener noticed something suspicious in a suitcase going through one of the X-ray screening machines.

The main security screening area has been evacuated. All security gates have been shut down.

Airport officials say the airport remains open.

Tad Hutcheson, a spokesman for AirTran Airways, says all AirTran flights heading to Atlanta are being diverted to other airports.

Delta Air Lines has also stopped landing flights at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Kathleen Bergen of the FAA says passengers on flights on the ground at the airport are being held on those planes.

Thousands of passengers are gathering outside the terminals.

Eric Bruce, research director at WSB-TV, is trying to fly out on an AirTran flight and he says the train that carries passengers between terminals has been shut down.

Police have closed off all roads leading to Hartsfield-Jackson.

MARTA has stopped running trains to the airport.

Officials at the transportation agency say they are trying to get passengers out of the airport. They are advising anyone who was planning to take MARTA to the airport to make other arrangements.

 

[ScoJo15]

Everything has been re-opened again....they never said what the suspicious package acutally was...

 

[troy mcclure]

I should learn to click Refresh! Duh...

ATLANTA -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials closed down all security checkpoints for about two hours Wednesday afternoon after a "suspicious device" was detected in a screening machine.

The gates were reopened shortly before 4 p.m.

By that point, there had been no departures for more than an hour, and all arriving flights were delayed at least 90 minutes, according to the FAA's Kathleen Bergen.

She said this is peak travel time and at least 120 flights had been affected.

The airport remained open and operating throughout the afternoon, although airport spokeswoman Felicia Browder acknowledged there was no way for passengers entering the airport to get to their airplanes.

Browder declined to comment further, saying the airport's general manager would hold a news conference at 4 p.m.

Federal Transportation Security Administration workers detected the suspicious item inside a bag just before 2 p.m., Browder said.

Browder said an airport explosive detection unit was deployed.

 

[PixieDust32]

Yikes!
A friend was there, his flight was canceled and got a ticket for tomorrow.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I imagine the TSA has screwed up once again.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I'm reminded of the episode of Airline where the employees went into full bomb protection mode only to find a...ummmm..."personal massage device". Considering some of the people who work for the TSA it wouldn't suprise me.

Seriously though, has anyone heard anything more about what it actually was? And whether anyone was hurt or arrested?

 

[AmazingGrace]

My Inlaws were supposed to fly out of Santonio with a layover in Atlanta. As of an hour ago, they were still on the plane in San Antonio. What a mess!!

 

[trip]

I imagine the TSA has screwed up once again.

I think I'd rather that they err on the side of caution.

 

[CarolA]

This is one of the most incompetent moments yet by the TSA. They just showed the guy trying to expain what happened. They don't have a clue??? I mean the guy was just stumbling over his words trying to explain this. It would have been funny except that they managed to mess up half the air transport system in the country.

I agree with erring on the side of caution, but this doesn't even meet this standard. From what the local press is saying the TSA spent a good hour trying to figure out "what to do now" (In other words how do we cover our behinds for this move!)

They can't find the bag with the "item" but they have manually searched EVERY bag that was on the belt at the time.. They are still looking?? WHERE????

 

[AmazingGrace]

My Parents in law are still on the runway in SATX. This is so not right!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I agree with erring on the side of caution, but this doesn't even meet this standard. From what the local press is saying the TSA spent a good hour trying to figure out "what to do now" (In other words how do we cover our behinds for this move!)

They can't find the bag with the "item" but they have manually searched EVERY bag that was on the belt at the time.. They are still looking?? WHERE????

Hmmm sounds like I was right. And the reason EVERYTHING takes so long with the TSA is that nothing is ever solved locally. There a zillion calls to Washington, DC everyday. It's not about erring on the side of caution, it's about an incompetent agency that is not keeping us any safer, but is costing us taxpayers tons of money.

 

[troy mcclure]

According to the AP:

ATLANTA - Officials shut down all security checkpoints at the nation's busiest airport for about two hours after a "suspicious image" was detected in a screening machine.

After a hand search of bags, nothing matching the image was found, said Willie Williams, Transportation Security Administration director at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He declined to say what the image appeared to be but said authorities continued to analyze it.

Earlier in the day, TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter said a possible homemade bomb had been detected.

A screener notified a supervisor of the suspicious image at 1:15 p.m., Williams said. The airport closed security checkpoints and grounded departing flights.

Checkpoints reopened at 3:40 p.m., while airport officials still "couldn't say for certain we had a threat," Williams said.

Airport general manager Ben DeCosta said he supported Williams' decision.

By the time checkpoints reopened, there had been no departures for more than an hour, and all arrivals were delayed at least 90 minutes, said Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The shutdown came at peak travel time, and at least 120 flights were affected, Bergen said.

"It will take most of the evening for operations to return to normal," said Delta Air Lines spokesman John Kennedy.

I wonder if people would be laughing if something serious had been found or if a bomb went off on a plane departing Atlanta yesterday.