PITTSTON TOWNSHIP, PA — A bomb threat at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Saturday led to a shutdown and hours delay.
Officials searched the airport and ultimately did not find a bomb or any other type of explosive device. Still, even the threat of such a device was enough to cause problems for those hoping to catch a flight out of Luzerne County.
"Everybody evacuate the airport," said Skip Bellus, one of the Saturday's hopeful flyers. "That’s all they really said."
That’s the word that went out over the PA system Saturday at the Pittston Township airport, delaying travel and essentially shutting the the facility down for approximately two hours.
Eric McKitish, the airport’s director of marketing and air service development, gave a brief statement that answered what had happened, but left other questions unanswered.
"Today at approximately 11:23 a.m., the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport was notified of a bomb threat at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport," McKitish said. "The only information we are available to release at this time is the Joseph M. McDade Terminal Building as well as several other buildings were evacuated of all passengers and personnel."
The airport officials did not disclose the nature of the threat, nor would they comment on its origins.
McKitish said that federal and local authorities are investigating.
The FBI said they are aware of the threat and are in contact with local authorities. State and municipal police did not return requests for comment.
The threat came as passengers made ready to board a 12:10 p.m. American Airlines flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.
One of those passengers was Florida resident Rick Doyle, who told NewsWatch 16 that the threat closed the building and forced everyone to a smaller building nearby.
Doyle’s flight was not going to make its twelve-ten departure time.
Bellus could also see the writing on the wall. He just decided to catch a different flight a different day.
"It aggravates me that people have to do this in our world," Bellus said Why? It doesn’t make sense. "
By the early afternoon, after a roughly two-hour wait, the all-clear came. No bomb was found.
As for Doyle’s flight, it left Luzerne County at 3 p.m. and touched down in Charlotte at 4:43 p.m., two hours and forty-three minutes late, but safe all the same.