Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan, was evacuated for several hours last night (Wednesday, July 4), after nine bomb threats were phoned in.
Though the airport was reopened four hours later, many flights had to be re-routed, including an American Eagle service that was diverted to the airport’s direct parking lot.
Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Tad Hutcheson, Vice-President of Marketing for Bishop International’s biggest carrier, AirTran Airways, confirmed that the evacuation had begun at around 5pm.
“There was a nonspecific bomb threat called into the airport,” he said. “It did not mention any airline by name.
“We evaluated the threat. We considered it a nonspecific threat, but we take it seriously nonetheless.”
Bomb-sniffing dogs searched the airport terminal for explosives during the evacuation, and AirTran Flight 246 from Atlanta was surrounded by police and emergency crews.
Hutcheson added: “When he touched down in Flint, that’s when the airport operations advised the captain he had to go to remote parking.”
Passengers on the Boeing-717 were held on the aircraft until 8pm, while law enforcement officers searched the plane and its cargo.
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