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HEBRON, Ky. -- A security breach forced the evacuation Thursday morning of a terminal at Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Transportation officials said a passenger walked away with his bag before security agents had finished screening it.
Officials said the man or his luggage had set off an alert that would have subjected him and his bags to additional screening, but he had disappeared into the crowd before agents could call him back.
As a precaution, all passengers on board flights connected to Terminal 2 were required to disembark the aircraft and all travelers in the terminal were required to evacuate the building. New security screenings were undertaken for all travelers, and airport spokeswoman Barb Schempf said operations were back to normal by 8:30 a.m. No safety or security threats were found during the additional screening process, officials said, and flights resumed.
No information was available about the passenger who caused the security breach, which remains under investigation. Airports around the country have heightened sensitivity in the aftermath of the Christmas Day arrest of a man who allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device hidden on his body on a Northwest Airlines flight near Detroit. However, transportation officials said the airport's response to the security breach was standard procedure for such situations.