Unattended bag causes delays at Charlotte airport

CHARLOTTE — A checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport was closed Wednesday morning to police activity due to an unattended bag.

The airport sent out an alert at around 9:30 a.m. that Checkpoint C was closed, and that passengers should go to Checkpoint A for pre-screening. Shortly after 10 a.m., the airport said the checkpoint had reopened and operations had returned to normal.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department initially said the closure was due to an investigation into a “suspicious package.” Within about 10 minutes, The department sent out another update Saying the package was an unattended bag.

The short delay came as the airport expects an increase in holiday travellers, but the closure does not appear to be affecting flights.

Police said they expected traffic delays around the airport on Wednesday morning, and a Channel 9 photojournalist spotted backups near the airport’s arrivals area.

‘It’s a nightmare’

This was not helped by the abundance of fliers trying to reach their gates after the airport reopened.

“I’m angry, angry,” said Jay Persaud, who was stuck in a line of pedestrian traffic Wednesday morning. “There’s a queue to get in here, and there’s queues everywhere. I’m lucky I parked the car. I could miss my flight, everyone here can miss their flight.”

Some passengers told us their flights had been rerouted, such as a flight to Tulsa that was delayed by about four hours until 2:27 p.m.

“This is ridiculous, and it’s hard to get here,” O’Donald McCain said.

Others arrived two hours before their flight and were still facing roadblocks.

“It’s kind of a nightmare,” Louise Ravosa said.

Half an hour before boarding, Ravosa and her husband had not passed through security. They were finally lined up for their flight.

Police said they eventually found the owner of the abandoned bag, but they hope a similar incident will not happen again, as millions of people are still waiting for a Christmas flight.

(Watch: Charlotte Airport working on traffic solutions for holiday season)

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