Man Freed After Scare at Burbank Airport

Late Friday, authorities released an allegedly drunk man who set off security devices at Burbank Airport earlier in the day, causing a six-hour disruption that included the closing of one terminal, an FBI investigator said Saturday.

Airport security detained the man, a Southwest Airlines passenger bound for San Jose whose name was not released, after screening his computer with an X-ray machine. Authorities later determined that the computer bag contained chemical residue commonly used to make explosives, said FBI Special Agent Matthew McLaughlin.

“The man was interviewed at length, and there may be a plausible explanation of why the residue was on the bag,” said McLaughlin, who declined to describe either the residue or the explanation. Authorities ruled out an initial theory that the titanium in the laptop had triggered the false reading.

Airport officials said the man was “very drunk,” which may have complicated the investigation. He was still carrying a bottle of vodka as he attempted to pass through the security checkpoint, said Susan Manukyan, Southwest’s assistant security manager.

“He was not in a normal state to participate in questioning,” agreed Victor Gill, spokesman for Burbank Airport, adding that the man may have also been taking medication.

The incident delayed at least 30 flights and hundreds of passengers as Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad technicians and FBI agents responded. The nine-gate terminal was closed, and Southwest was forced to cancel six flights because of federal regulations limiting the number of hours that flight crews can work, said Southwest spokeswoman Beth Harbin.

Despite the inconveniences--one weary traveler missed her own wedding, scheduled late Friday in Las Vegas--officials said the hours-long investigation was typical for bomb scares. The county bomb squad, based in Whittier and hampered by rush-hour traffic on a rainy Friday evening, did not reach the airport until about two hours after the man was detained, said Deputy David Cervantes, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

Cervantes said the six-hour timeline was nothing unusual. “When it comes to [bomb scares], there is no rush just because it’s going to hinder some people’s travel time. It’s better to be cautious,” he said.

The man whose laptop caused such a stir was expected to catch a flight Saturday morning at the airport, but he did not show up.

Carl Sansbury, a police sergeant who handles airport security at LAX, said that household items like garden fertilizer or gasoline can trigger false alarms indicating chemical residue. But he agreed that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“You can’t hurry this process. If it comes to [having] to shut the airport down, I will,” he said. “I mean, would you want to be responsible for letting something through that blows up?”

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Staff writer Erika Hayasaki contributed to this story.