Miami Airport Reopens

Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by Anna Zimmerman in Headlines, World

Miami, Florida- Miami International Airport reopened its gate early Friday morning after airport authorities detained a passenger for carrying a suspicious item. The airport recommenced its operations just before the first scheduled flight out.

According to Miami-Dade aviation department spokesman Greg Chin things are all back to normal. “Passengers, workers, and others were allowed back in just as the airport  was resuming flights between 4 a.m. and 6a.m,” he told the Associated press just soon after the closed concourse reopened. “The evacuation order was lifted during the nighttime drop-off in flights,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the detained passenger was brought to the custody of the law enforcement, said a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration. They, however, did not provide further details about the identity of the passenger and whether the passenger had been charged or released.

A source close to the investigation, however, told reporters that the passenger was an American and had jail time history. The passenger came into Miami on a flight from Brazil. It was his incarceration history that compounded officials concern over the suspicious item.

The thursday night Miami Airport “Bomb scare” brought the usually busy airport to a halt for hours as bomb squad team cordoned off areas of the airport and dealt with the suspicious item. Six airport concourses and The Miami International Airport Hotel, which is located near the airport’s international terminal were closed down. Passengers and airport personnels had to be evacuated from the complex and airport roadways were closed down. Authorities told reporters that “Everything we did was part of public safety precaution.”

According to Chin, all airport councourses in the 2 mile long complex (except for J) were shutted down at 9:30p.m. Thursday after a suspicious item was found it a checked bag. Officials rerouted incoming flights to other part of the complex. “Between 100 to 200 passengers were evacuated initially although i’m not sure how many flights came in but those that did were relocated to the eastern or western wing,” he said.

“I’m still not sure how many flights came in during this time, but any that did were relocated to the eastern or western ends of the airport,” Chin said, adding parts of Concourses D and J remained open to flights while the evacuation order was in effect for remaining areas.

The Miami-Dade Police department told CNN that police bomb squad and other law enforcement agents were deployed to the scene immediately after receiving reports from Airport officials. The bomb squad spent hours at the airport with fire officials and other special unit teams. Police cars and Fire trucks were on stand by and a hazardous material team stood by as well.   They, however, declined to give out any comment on the result of the investigation. Their statement did not say what the suspicious item was and who the person was. “The case is still under investigation,” was all they shared.

On a lighter note, purged those with schedule departures to check with their local air carriers if their flights have been reinstated.

Tags: Miami International Airport