Fort Wayne, Ind Airport Closed To Passengers After Spill

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Fort Wayne, Ind Airport Closed To Passengers After Spill



Wednesday August 18, 1:11 PM EDT


FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)--A liquid leaked from an unclaimed bag Wednesday inside the Fort Wayne International Airport in Indiana, causing some workers to report feeling ill and prompting authorities to halt passenger service.

The owner of the bag told FBI agents that the substance was a liquid used in making perfume, said Tory Richardson, the airport's executive director. Tests were being conducted to determine whether that account was correct.

"It appears as though he's cooperating," Richardson said of the bag's owner.

Tests found no air contamination in the airport terminal, he said.

None of the 28 passengers and three crew members on the American Eagle flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport that arrived about 2 a.m. local time were effected, an airline official said.



American Airlines spokeswoman Lisa Bailey said the bag's owner was traveling to Fort Wayne from London, but he didn't board the American Eagle plane when weather problems delayed its scheduled 8:27 p.m. CDT (0527 GMT) departure from Chicago by nearly five hours.

American Airlines and American Eagle are units of AMR Corp. (AMR).

FBI Special Agent Wendy Osborne, a spokeswoman for the agency's Indianapolis office, said investigators knew who owned the bag containing the substance, but wouldn't immediately release any information about the owner.

"The FBI along with members of the Transportation Security Administration are working on conducting interviews, even outside the state of Indiana," she said.

Six people - four airport workers and two emergency responders - were decontaminated after the liquid was first seen leaking from a bag left unclaimed about an hour after the flight arrived, airport officials said.

Richardson said a field test was inconclusive and that a second sample was sent to a laboratory for further testing.

Bailey said the workers noticed an odd odor after taking the bag to a secure area. She said workers opened the bag and found a broken bottle.

"When the agent came in contact with the substance, the agent became violently ill, began vomiting," Bailey said.

She said all the workers had been checked at a hospital but that they weren't being released until authorities had identified the substance.

The bag's owner had been rebooked onto a Wednesday flight from Chicago, she said.

"Because his bag had been checked and was already secure, it went on the flight," Bailey said. "It's not uncommon that a bag that's already been cleared and secured would go onto the flight."

Fort Wayne airport officials closed the passenger terminal about 3:45 a.m. local time, with it to remain closed until the substance was identified, spokeswoman Sandra Lux said. Charter and cargo flights were continuing at the airport.

About a dozen flights had been delayed by midmorning, Lux said.


Roger
EWROPS

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