A police incident at a major US airport has led to chaos and disruptions for over 200 flights. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) had to close part of its Terminal 1 Departures Level due to a reported suspicious package. The airport issued a warning to avoid the departures area of the domestic terminals. As a result, there have been more than 190 flight delays and 20 cancellations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported an average delay of approximately 90 minutes.
The San Francisco Police Department confirmed the presence of a bomb disposal team at the scene following the incident. The police responded to a suspicious package report at Terminal 1’s departure level, leading to an evacuation for investigation purposes. Additional police resources, including the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit (EOD), were deployed to assist in the situation.
After about two hours, the terminal reopened as the police activity was deemed resolved. SFO announced that the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 was fully operational again with all ticket counters open. However, no details were provided about the nature of the suspicious package.
In addition to the security incident, the airport faced FAA ground delays due to high winds, limiting the number of arrivals to 25 flights per hour initially and later to 28 flights per hour. The FAA warned that delays could persist until midnight, exacerbating the travel disruptions.
Passengers like Raven Davis, en route to Nigeria for a wedding, expressed frustration over the situation. Similarly, Victor Barbosa, impacted by the delays, voiced concerns about potential further disruptions to his travel plans.
The incident occurred during a period of increased holiday travel at SFO, with expectations of a 4% surge in passenger traffic this year. Over six million travelers are anticipated to pass through the airport by New Year’s Day, according to reports.