A police incident at a major US airport caused over 200 flight delays, leading to chaos. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) partially closed due to a reported suspicious package on Friday morning. SFO informed travelers that the Terminal 1 Departures Level lobby was shut down for police activity, urging avoidance of the departures level in domestic terminals. The airport faced over 190 flight delays and 20 cancellations due to operational strains and weather-related issues, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reporting an average delay of around 90 minutes.
San Francisco Police Department deployed a bomb disposal team to investigate the suspicious package at Terminal 1. The SFPD officers at SFO responded to the scene following the report, evacuating the area for further inspection. Additional SFPD resources, including the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, were present to assist in managing the incident.
Terminal 1 reopened fully approximately two hours after the incident was resolved, as confirmed by SFO. No specific details regarding the nature of the “suspicious package” were disclosed.
Passengers like Raven Davis, en route to Nigeria for a wedding, expressed their distress over the situation, highlighting the emotional toll of the delays. Another traveler, Victor Barbosa, expressed concerns about potential extended delays affecting his journey to Sao Paulo from LAX.
The incident unfolded amidst predictions of a 4% increase in holiday travel at SFO this year, with an estimated six million travelers anticipated to pass through the airport by New Year’s Day. The airport was already under an FAA ground delay due to high winds, restricting arrivals to 25 flights per hour initially, later increased to 28 flights per hour from Thursday to Friday. Weather-related delays were expected to persist until midnight, according to AC7 News.