Airport evacuated for 2 hours

Advertiser Staff

Honolulu International Airport was closed for about two hours yesterday afternoon after a security screening machine malfunctioned, forcing the evacuation of about 1,000 passengers.

Transportation Security Administration officials first noticed that the machine that X-rays carry-on luggage of passengers going through checkpoint No. 4 was not working at about 1 p.m., state Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.

Government rules then require that the airport be cleared of all passengers and swept for possible explosives or other problems, he said.

That meant delays for passengers on six overseas and 13 interisland flights, he said.

"As a precaution, everybody decided we had to clear the airport and screen the passengers again," Ishikawa said.

About 85 passengers had gone through the faulty screening machine in the airport's overseas terminal. Some passengers were forced to deplane.

The airport was declared safe at about 4 p.m. and passengers were allowed back into the terminal after that, Ishikawa said.

"We apologized for the delay, but most people were understanding," he said.