Lost in plane sight

By Zenaida Serrano
Advertiser Staff Writer

Terminal services supervisor Scott Haida stands among the many shelves of lost items stored at the airport. The items are held for about 45 days before being discarded, donated or sold to the highest bidder. Andrew Shimabuko • The Honolulu Advertiser

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks, right center) holds up his ante in the poker game for unclaimed items with airport staffers in "The Terminal." DreamWorks Pictures 'The Terminal' Opens in theaters Friday PG-13

Airport security manager Joe Guyton holds a toy chain saw, one of the many items handed over to security at the Honolulu airport. Andrew Shimabuko • The Honolulu Advertiser How to claim lost items at Honolulu International Airport 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. daily, except state holidays Terminal services office, on the ground level in the parking garage opposite the main overseas terminal. Many airlines and concessions also maintain their own lost-and-found operations. 836-6547 Please provide detailed description, when and where (what part of the airport) the item probably was lost and a photo ID.

The warehouse, part of the airport's lost-and-found office, houses these and a mish-mash of other goods left in the airport terminal area. The large room has 10 rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves that store items, including an oxygen tank, an Australian nose flute, a decorative wall fan, dentures, bicycles, golf clubs, surfboards, jackets, strollers and cameras.

"It's just anything you can imagine," said Scott Haida, terminal services supervisor.

Steven Spielberg's flick "The Terminal," which opens in theaters Friday, features a scene in which Tom Hanks' character plays poker with three airport employees. Instead of money, they gamble with airport lost-and-found items, including a stuffed marlin and a pair of Cher's panties.

"Not here," said Haida, shaking his head and smiling. Honolulu International Airport employees don't have the luxury of appropriating the stuff left behind.

All items are kept for 45 days, after which they are considered abandoned and become the property of the state, Haida said. Then the goods are auctioned off, discarded or donated to charity.

In addition to abandoned and lost goods, the warehouse is also used to store surrendered contraband items and hazardous materials: brow-raisers like handcuffs, fake grenades, a toy bazooka and insulin needles.

The most common items handed over to by security employees are scissors and knives, said Joe Guyton, airport security manager.

From June 1 to June 9 alone, 1,135 pairs of scissors and 356 knives were collected at the airport, he said.

Among the strangest surrendered items?

"This toy chain saw," Guyton said, holding up the life-size saw like a guitar.

Passengers can keep such items if they put them in checked baggage, Guyton said.

"It's the things that get in the cabin area that we're worried about," he said.

As with the lost goods, the surrendered items are kept for 45 days, then auctioned, destroyed or donated. Organizations such as the Institute for Human Services and the Lions Club are among the agencies that benefit from the donations, Haida said.

If airport users come across unattended items or baggage, those should be left alone, Haida said.

"You should not touch it," he said. "Go to security or an airport employee, and they'll take care of it. It's for your own safety."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.