LaGuardia Airport is usually peaceful, but LaGuardia Airport was a sea of chaos for a few terrifying minutes early this morning. LaGuardia Airport had to be evacuated when it looked like someone was going into LaGuardia Airport with a bomb. However, LaGuardia Airport remained standing, and the bomb was a fake explosive made by a drunk man. LaGuardia Airport went back into business by morning’s end, but the bomb scare was still too real for a little while.
At around 5:30 a.m., LaGuardia Airport was evacuated when a passenger in Terminal C was caught with a device that officials originally thought was a bomb. By the time it was determined that it wasn’t, LaGuardia was shut down and thousands left into the crowded traffic.
The passenger in question, 32-year-old Scott McGann from Queens, reportedly got belligerent with officials, leading them to check his bag. They found batteries and wires attached to a power strip, and started evacuating LaGuardia Airport for fear that it was a bomb.
In time, they discovered that LaGuardia Airport was not in danger, and that McGann was not a terrorist – just a drunk with a fake device. Within three hours, LaGuardia Airport was reopened, though by then, passengers had already been caught in traffic jams while leaving.
LaGuardia Airport was already host to some aggravated passengers before the fake bomb scare, as flights had to be canceled yesterday due to weather. Passengers were already struggled to reschedule their flights and catch new ones, before their time at LaGuardia got further disrupted this morning.
In addition, there was another ugly incident at LaGuardia Airport a few days ago, when a female contractor was killed when she was hit by a service truck. She was struck near the Delat Terminal on Wednesday.
LaGuardia Airport has already had an eventful year – starting when it was the airport that Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s US Airways flight took off from in January. But the passengers were hardly in as much danger from this scare, as it turned out – though for a while, officials thought that they were.
Questions will probably arise as to whether there was an overreaction to this, and how airports are still vulnerable to real bomb scares. However, LaGuardia Airport itself is running back on schedule, trying to help the still stranded passengers that are coming back. Still, Terminal C remains closed since it is a crime scene.
Sources
New York Times- “LaGuardia Airport Terminal is Evacuated” www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/nyregion/02Laguardia.html
Reuters- “LaGuardia Airport reopens after bomb scare” www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0145937620090801
MyFox NY- “Woman Killed At LaGuardia Airport” www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/queens/090729_woman_killed_at_laguardia
