1 week Ago By Rick Carroll, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Passengers and others sit outside of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport after being evacuated from the terminal building following a security-related false alarm on Sunday afternoon. A combination of roughly 200 airline passengers and employees were evacuated from the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport on Sunday after security officials detected a “suspicious item of note” before the commercial terminal reopened at 2 p.m.
after a 21⁄2-hour closure. Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters were dispatched to the airport for a security incident that “was determined to be a false positive in a checked bag,” according to a press release from Pitkin County, which oversees airport operations. “Out of an abundance of caution, all passengers and employees were safely evacuated.
” According to Airport Deputy Director Diane Jackson, one of the Transportation Safety Administration’s screening machines recognized an item as a potential threat, and it “turned out it had just triggered the machine as a false positive.” Once that happened, the TSA contacted the sheriff’s office and closed the airport’s sole commercial terminal. “In this situation and in an abundance of caution, we actually evacuated the terminal and worked with the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office to clear everything, and then we could systematically let people back in the terminal after we cleared it and inspection was done,” Jackson said.
Evacuated passengers stand in line at an Aspen-Pitkin County Airport parking lot, waiting to be allowed back into the terminal building following an evacuation caused by a security-related false alarm on Sunday afternoon. Standing in line about five passengers behind the family with the flagged luggage was Sylvia Blair, waiting for TSA to screen her bag. Blair was traveling with the Texas Ski Club and had attended the Mountain Travel Symposium in Snowmass Village.
“There was a family that was stopped because they were going through,” she said. “They had lots of luggage, a stroller, lots of stuff. I want to say there was probably a family of four.
And a lot of questions, a lot of talking, and then all of a sudden the TSA says the machine’s broken. But this one was clearly on.” The family was escorted away, she said, and TSA agents instructed travelers to get at least 200 yards away from the terminal.
Those with checked bags had to leave them at the airport. Emergency personnel on the scene included Parker Lathrop, chief deputy of operations for the PCSO. “I can confirm we had something,” he said.
“We had a suspicious item of note, we looked into it and confirmed that there was no hazard with that and at that point, get the airport returned to normal. We’re able to say that there’s no hazard, so it just takes time to get the airport restarted.” During the closure and in the area of the airport’s short-term parking and the service road were evacuated travelers, TSA agents, airline and airport employees.
Many of the passengers and even airport terminal employees who spoke with the Aspen Daily News were oblivious as to why the airport was evacuated. They turned to social media to see what was happening, but information was speculative. A Transportation Security Administration agent stands along West Airport Road to keep passengers away from the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport terminal building following an evacuation caused by a security-related false alarm on Sunday afternoon.
Other passengers presciently forecast the incident would turn out to be a false alarm. Some were simply trying to get home, but many were concerned they would miss their connecting flights. Adding to the confusion were the sights and sounds of aircraft landing at and departing from the airport, along with TSA and airline officials on the scene who were instructed not to comment.
“They just let a plane take off, they had one land that’s sitting over there now, and one just took off. So why are we outside when all this is going on?” said one traveler who asked that his name not to be used. The county’s answer to the question was in its press release: “It is important to note that, due to the baggage being isolated in the commercial terminal, general aviation operations continued without interruption during this time.
” Management of general aviation (private plane) services is provided by Atlantic Aviation in a separate building. The ski-travel conference held in Snowmass Village brought together industry players in the ski and travel business from such faraway places as Spain and the United Kingdom, and locations closer to home, like Austin, Texas. Sunday’s disruption, however, wasn’t on the agenda.
“I think they could be maybe communicating a little better, but I’m sure that’s not their priority right now,” said Louise Jennings, who was came from the UK for the conference with a colleague from NuCo Travel, a European ski-tour operator. Jackson said the airport was following its safety protocols when it closed the terminal. “We put everybody’s safety first, and I know it was an inconvenience for people, but we do put safety first,” she said.
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