A police incident caused disruption at a major US airport, leading to over 200 flight delays. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) had to close a section due to a reported suspicious package. The airport advised travelers to avoid the affected area, causing operational challenges and weather-related issues that resulted in more than 190 flight delays and 20 cancellations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported an average delay of approximately ninety minutes.
The San Francisco Police Department dispatched a bomb disposal team to investigate the situation after responding to reports of a suspicious package at Terminal 1 Departures Level. The area was evacuated for further investigation, with additional police resources, including the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, present at the scene.
After about two hours, Terminal 1 reopened following the resolution of the police activity. No specific details about the nature of the suspicious package were disclosed to the public.
Passengers, like Raven Davis and Victor Barbosa, expressed their frustrations about the delays and uncertainties caused by the incident. Davis, traveling to Nigeria for a wedding, shared her emotional struggle, while Barbosa mentioned potential challenges in rearranging his travel plans.
This incident occurred amidst predictions of a 4% increase in holiday travel at SFO this year, expecting over six million travelers passing through the airport by New Year’s Day. Additionally, the airport was already under an FAA ground delay due to strong winds, limiting arrivals to 25 flights per hour initially, later increased to 28 flights per hour from Thursday to Friday due to adverse weather conditions that might persist until midnight.