A police officer diverts traffic from the Portland International Jetport on Sunday afternoon after the terminal was evacuated because of a suspicious bag. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
The Portland International Jetport terminal building reopened Sunday afternoon after staff and travelers were evacuated, flights were diverted or delayed, and airport approaches closed to traffic following the discovery of a suspicious bag by airport security.
Around 2:30 p.m., the airport said via Twitter that it had closed because of a “suspect bag.” The Portland Police Department and the Transportation Security Administration evacuated the terminal, airport officials said, and motorists were turned away from airport entrances by police.
In a news conference near the jetport Sunday, Portland Police Chief Frank Clark said that around 1:30 p.m. TSA officials found a “camera system” that they deemed suspicious within a piece of checked luggage on an outbound flight for Virginia.
TSA officials believed the camera to have an explosive inside, and notified Portland police and firefighters, who responded to the airport. “After some screening procedures we were able to determine that the equipment was safe,” Clark said.
There will be no charges against anyone involved, Clark said. The passenger involved was a man in his 40s from Virginia, Clark said, without naming him.
The airport reopened for normal operations around 5 p.m.
At least two flights scheduled to land in Portland at the time the airport was sealed off were diverted, according departure and arrival information on the jetport website. A flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, due to arrive around 3:20 p.m. landed in Boston instead. A Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore scheduled to arrive after 3:30 p.m. was diverted to Manchester, New Hampshire. Both flights arrived in Portland on Sunday evening. A Frontier Airlines flight due to leave Portland for Fort Myers, Florida, around 3:30 p.m. was canceled, according to the jetport.
ADVISORY:
Due to a suspect bag @PolicePortland and @TSA have evacuated the terminal building. The driveway into the Jetport is closed. We expect at least 90 minutes until the building is released for operations.— Portland Jetport (@portlandjetport) March 21, 2021
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