Object in Luggage Unpacks Airport

Scores of passengers and employees were evacuated from Long Beach Airport on Monday morning after baggage screeners saw a suspicious device while X-raying the carry-on luggage of a male passenger, authorities said.

Although officials do not believe the device was meant to harm anyone, it underscores how an airport’s operations can be disrupted as authorities scrutinize what passengers bring onto planes.

Long Beach police were notified of a possible security breach shortly before 8 a.m., said Officer Israel Ramirez. People in the terminal were evacuated to a parking lot while police investigated.

“The bomb squad came. They isolated it and they did whatever they do to render it safe,” he said.

Ramirez said he could not confirm a news report that the device appeared to be a grenade. “I don’t have that information,” he said.

FBI officials said late Monday that they did not believe the device was intended to harm anyone. The owner of the bag has not been arrested, and the investigation is continuing, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Monday’s incident came less than two months after bomb threats disrupted travel at Long Beach and three other Southern California airports and a toy mistaken for a possible explosive caused delays at a fifth.

In the Oct. 25 incidents, Long Beach police used bomb-sniffing dogs to search the airport grounds for hours after the early morning telephone threat was made to the city’s airport. The threats that day also targeted Los Angeles International, Ontario International and John Wayne airports.

The discovery of the suspicious device Monday morning halted departing flights for about two hours. At least one incoming flight was held on the tarmac away from the gate, and an America West flight was diverted to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, officials said.

Jackie Snyder, 43, and her mother, Rita Sharp, 72, had been en route from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for more than six hours when their flight landed in Long Beach shortly after 9 a.m. But instead of taxiing to the gate, the plane stayed put.

“The pilot got on the PA and told us what he knew, which was nothing,” Snyder said. “He told us he had tried to call the gate and no one had answered. He got back on to give us updates a few times, and after about 30 minutes of waiting he told us that there had been some sort of security breach.”

Snyder and Sharp said their fellow passengers seemed restless and had to be reminded by flight attendants to stay seated. Snyder, however, said she felt that sitting on the plane they were “in the safest place, away from everything.”

“Stuff happens,” said Sharp, dressed for a day of travel in a bright red jacket and rhinestone Christmas stocking earrings. “You can’t do nothing about it.”

Catherine and Erik Bennett and their 3-year old son, Zane, arrived for their flight to Washington, D.C., to find traffic blocked from entering the main terminal. “I figured it was something that was not good,” said Catherine Bennett, 37, a massage therapist who lives in Los Angeles and is expecting her second child in February.

Once they parked in a remote lot and took the shuttle to the terminal, they faced unusually long lines at the small airport, which serves four airlines with 41 commercial flights a day.

“I’d still rather be here than at LAX,” said Erik Bennett, 39, an actor. “We were bracing ourselves anyway, traveling with a 3-year-old.”

For others, the incident was frightening.

“I was scared,” said Faviola Pacheco, 20, a hostess at the airport’s Prop Room restaurant. On the upper level of the terminal, built in 1941, the Art Deco space features curved panoramic windows overlooking the runways. Shortly after 8 a.m., it was packed with breakfast eaters when the manager was notified that everyone needed to get out.

“He made an announcement that we had to leave,” she said. “Everyone was eating and had to get up and go.”

By 10 a.m., however, airport operations were largely back to normal.

Asked if he had any advice for travelers during the busy holiday season, Ramirez, the Long Beach police spokesman, said everyone needed to take extra caution with their luggage.

“The screeners are doing their job. Anything that doesn’t look right is questioned,” he said. “If you’re carrying something suspicious -- like a toy for a loved one -- declare it so they know from the beginning.”