Plane returns to LaGuardia, terminal closed after security snag

By

Posted 2:48PM on Monday, February 18, 2002

NEW YORK - An American Eagle flight was forced to turn around after takeoff and return to LaGuardia airport Monday morning after a passenger was improperly screened. A terminal was evacuated after the man grabbed a bag that had been set aside for a hand search and ran to catch Cleveland-bound Flight 4403. Although a Port Authority police officer at the screening point in the American Airlines boarding area sounded the alarm, the plane actually took off and was 100 miles out when it was recalled by air traffic controllers. The reason for the time lag was not clear. The incident occurred just before 9 a.m., said Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority, which runs the airport. The plane returned about 40 minutes later and all passengers were rescreened, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The concourse reopened just after 10 a.m. The incident occurred on the second day after new federally mandated passenger screening procedures went into effect at the nation's airports. A new Transportation Security Administration, under the Department of Transportation, is now responsible for the screening that was previously done by airline-hired baggage inspectors.