NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines' domestic terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated for about two hours on Friday because of a security scare, officials said.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration in Washington said departing flights had resumed at about 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) after the alert turned out to be a false alarm triggered when a man's shoes set off a security screening device meant to detect explosives.

The TSA said the man walked away from the checkpoint at about 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), apparently unaware that his shoes had set off an alarm. The man was not located but the alert proved to be a false alarm.

"The passenger left the checkpoint before the screening was complete so TSA evacuated the terminal and postponed outgoing flights," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said.

Flights leaving LaGuardia from the terminal were halted but incoming flights were not disrupted.

"At this point the airport is fully operational," McCauley said. "Flights are now departing from Terminal D."

McCauley said the screening device sometimes is triggered by substances other than explosives, including traces of fertilizer that can be found on the bottom of shoes.

About two hours after the alarm, hundreds of passengers who had been ushered outside the terminal were rescreened and allowed into the concourse to wait for their flights to depart.

A Delta spokeswoman said about eight outbound flights were held on the ground during the security search.

Inbound flights already in the air during the time of the evacuation were allowed to land at a second terminal that handles Delta shuttle service.

Last month, the Long Beach, California, airport was shut down for 90 minutes when a man ran away from security screeners who singled him out for further inspection because he was wearing baggy clothing.

Source: REUTERS

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