 |
Classifieds: |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
NEW YORK (AFP) — Authorities at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Friday evacuated a terminal and halted outbound flights for four hours after a security alert over a passenger's shoes.
The incident occurred shortly before 3:00 p.m. ET at the Delta Airlines terminal. By 7:00 p.m. the terminal had reopened. "The decision was taken to remove passengers from the terminal out of an abundance of caution," said Yolande Clark, a spokeswoman for the federal Transport Security Administration. According to Clark, a male passenger who was selected for secondary screening set off an alarm when his shoes were passed through a detector that checks for explosives. "The passenger then put on his shoes and exited the area," said Clark, who was unable to explain why the man was not stopped. Local media reported it was all a misunderstanding. The building was evacuated and all outbound flights were held up while security personnel searched for the passenger, but incoming flights landed as normal, Clark said. Passengers' shoes have been regularly checked at airports since the attempt by British "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid to blow up a Paris-Miami flight in 2001 using explosives hidden in his soles. Copyright 2006 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
||||||||||||
