Security Operatives at Orlando Airport
Thousands of travelers at Orlando International Airport were evacuated from the terminals at peak travel time Friday night after a camera battery reportedly exploded in a suitcase outside the security checkpoint. The sound of the explosion triggered panic among some travelers who thought it was a gunshot.
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Travelers waiting to board flights from American Airlines, Southwest, Delta and many other airlines, as well as those on planes that had already left the gate and were waiting to depart, were evacuated from the airport to be re-screened by TSA agents.
Andrea Negroni, my sister and a passenger on American Airlines Flight 1594 to Washington, DC, said the pilot on her flight announced that every plane that was still on the ground when the battery exploded shortly after 5:00 p.m. would have to return to the gates; passengers would get off and be re-screened but not until a TSA agent had boarded each airliner to monitor the passengers as they exited.
Orlando’s chronically crowded security screening areas were overflowing as airliner after airliner emptied and those passengers joined others who were still in the terminal when the events began. Orlando International’s enormous center atrium was swollen with frustrated travelers.
Dozens of wheelchair-bound passengers were stranded as there was no one to help them move through the terminal. When asked what they should do, a United customer service agent said they “could only pray.”
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