The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMASAIR’s operations were disrupted for just over an hour by Sunday’s bomb scare at Miami International Airport, Managing Director Tracy Cooper said, despite widespread evacuations and delays that left dozens of Bahamian travellers stranded and anxious.

Mr Cooper said the airline was able to resume normal operations quickly because of the timing of its afternoon Miami service, even though passengers who had already checked in were temporarily forced to leave the terminal.

“This did not affect Bahamasair immensely because we have a flight that goes into Miami in the afternoon and that flight arrives in Miami around 6.30 in the evening and leaves at 7.45,” he said. “Although our passengers who checked in early had to vacate the airport, we were able to get them back in and for us, Bahamasair flight was only disrupted for about an hour and fifteen minutes” because of backup traffic at the airport at that time.

The incident caused panic for many Bahamian travellers at the airport. Videos sent to The Tribune showed passengers huddled together and lined up as US security personnel moved through the terminal.

One Bahamasair passenger said he arrived at the airport around 5.15pm to check in and was met with chaos.

“Evacuations were already underway, and it turned out to be our area where the ticket counter is located,” he said.

“Police were everywhere. Task forces were out in full force, and people had to scatter, even outside the airport. The only thing I was worrying about is if we had to change our date to another departure.”

As the situation unfolded, multiple passengers aboard a Bahamasair flight arriving in Miami were forced to remain on the aircraft for hours while authorities worked to clear the terminal. Flight data showed the aircraft departed New Providence shortly after 5.30pm and arrived about 40 minutes later, but passengers said they had not deplaned as of 8pm.

“It was a 7.45pm flight departure. Now it looks like we’ll be leaving out here around 9 to 9.30pm,” the passenger said, adding that the flight appeared to be full.

International reports said Miami authorities responded shortly after 5pm to reports of unattended luggage deemed a suspicious item on the departures level of the terminal. As a precaution, everyone in the surrounding area was evacuated.

The all-clear was reportedly given around 7.40pm, after which airport operations gradually returned to normal.