A police incident at a major US airport caused chaos, resulting in over 200 flight delays. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) had to close a section due to a reported suspicious package on Friday morning. As a result, the Departures Level lobby in Terminal 1 was shut down, prompting SFO to advise travelers to steer clear of the domestic terminals’ departures area. With operational challenges and adverse weather conditions, the airport encountered 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 dispatched a bomb disposal team to address the situation. According to a statement from the department, officers responded to a suspicious package at Terminal 1’s departure level around 8:15 am. The area was evacuated for investigation, and additional police resources, including the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, were deployed to assist.
Terminal 1 was fully operational again about two hours after the incident was resolved, as confirmed by SFO. However, no further details about the nature of the suspicious package were provided.
Passengers at the airport shared their experiences, with Raven Davis expressing her internal struggle while heading to Nigeria for a wedding. Victor Barbosa, another affected traveler, expressed concerns about potential delays affecting his journey to Sao Paulo.
The incident occurred during a busy holiday travel period at SFO, with projections indicating a 4% increase in passenger traffic compared to the previous year. Over six million individuals were expected to pass through the airport by New Year’s Day.
Adding to the challenges, the airport was already experiencing an FAA ground delay due to strong winds, limiting arrivals to 25 flights per hour initially, and later increasing to 28 flights per hour from Thursday to Friday. The FAA warned that weather-related delays could persist until midnight.