Suspicious Package Leads BWI to Close Gate Area
Authorities are investigating a suspicious package that was reported at 3 p.m. on Friday.
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UPDATE: Investigators determined that the item was "non-hazardous" and reopened the area near the gate by 5 p.m. on Friday, according to airport spokesperson Jonathan Dean.
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Authorities at the Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport are investigating a suspicious package that showed up at approximately 3 p.m. in a non-public part of the airport, according to a spokesperson for BWI.
"The investigation is in the lower-level airline space of Concourse D, not in a public area," said Jonathan Dean, spokesperson for the airport. "However, as a precaution, travelers were cleared from the airline gate area in Concourse D, near that specific location."
Dean said he does not know whether authorities have seized the package or identified what it may be, but travelers are still being kept away from the immediate area.
"There was only a minimal effect on airline operations," Dean said.
Liz
2:56 pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Is there a follow-up to this?
Brian Hooks
3:00 pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Just updated with this information:
Investigators determined that the item was "non-hazardous" and reopened the area near the gate by 5 p.m. on Friday, according to airport spokesperson Jonathan Dean.
John H. Taylor
4:35 pm on Sunday, November 18, 2012
These statements by airport officials are misleading at best. I was there. The entrance to the concourse housing gates D7-D18 was blocked from about 3 p.m. to a little after 5 p.m. At about 3:30, arriving passengers were permitted to leave the affected gates. But no flights left them for at least two hours. By the time the concourse reopened, about 400 customers had been bottled up. How does an airport absorb having no flights leave from that many gates and yet claim a minimal impact on operations? My own UAL flight to LAX departed about two hours late. Officials are to be commended for being attentive to security. But what's the purpose of misleading the public about it?