San Francisco Airport shuts down gates after explosives residue detected on shoes

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Posted 2:01PM on Wednesday, January 30, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of passengers were evacuated from San Francisco International Airport for more than two hours Wednesday after security guards detected explosives residue on the shoes of a man who disappeared into the crowd. A search of the United Airlines terminal failed to find the man, and the terminal was reopened mid-morning, with all passengers being rescreened, said airport spokesman Ron Wilson. "We've searched the terminal. It's safe and secure," Wilson said. "It's unfortunate that one individual can cause this madness." The terminal was shut down at about 7 a.m., the peak of the morning travel rush, when the residue was detected at a checkpoint, said airport spokesman Mike McCarron. "When they went to stop him, he didn't stop," McCarron said. The explosive material could be anything from fireworks residue to nitroglycerin tablets, McCarron said. It was detected after a gauze-like material was wiped across the man's shoes, then put through a machine. McCarron didn't know whether the residue was discovered in a random check or if the man raised suspicion. The passenger was described as a white male in his 40s. Airport officials were unsure if video cameras at the checkpoint captured the man's image. The incident forced officials to hold all 27 outgoing flights from the area and affected at least 20 inbound flights, Wilson said. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said passengers were taken off planes at the some of the gates. At least 3,000 people were evacuated from the terminal. "United is our largest carrier," McCarron said. "It was not a good time for this to happen." United spokesman Chris Brathwaite in Chicago said the airline's system was operating "quite well" nationally despite delays into and out of San Francisco, though further delays were possible because of snow across parts of the country. Lawyer Kathi Pugh of Berkeley, who was among the thousands waiting for a flight Wednesday morning, was frustrated. "It just seems like they could figure out a better way to search people again rather than shut down the entire airport," she said by phone from the crowded security area.