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University Park Airport Evacuated After Suspicious Item Found In Luggage

Update, March 4: According to a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson, bomb technicians cleared the bag shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday after determining there was nothing of danger inside. 

“Scans of the luggage by a TSA employee flagged the item as suspicious,” Penn State spokesperson Lisa Powers said. “The item was not an explosive device.”

Update, 11 p.m.: A police hazardous device team “was able to render safe the suspicious contents” of a bag checked for a flight to Chicago, police reported just before 11 p.m. The airport is scheduled to resume normal operations at 4 a.m. on Saturday.

“There is no current threat,” police said in the statement.

Further details about the nature of the item have not yet been made available.

Original Story: University Park Airport has been evacuated after a “suspicious item” was found in a piece of checked luggage early Friday evening, according to Penn State police.

Police said in a statement that the general aviation terminal was evacuated out of “an abundance of caution,” and that an explosives device team and other responders are on site.

The airport is closed to air traffic and passengers “until further notice,” according to the statement.

No incoming or outgoing flights were scheduled at the time of the evacuation, police said. According to FlightView, at least one incoming flight was diverted to Harrisburg and another was diverted back to its originating airport. Several inbound and outbound flights are listed as delayed or canceled.

Buses from Penn State were brought to the airport to take about 100 passengers to campus, where they are able to shelter and were provided with food, according to the police statement.

In addition to police, Bellefonte Fire Department and fire police were on standby at the scene.

The incident happened as many Penn State students and faculty were leaving the State College area for the start of spring break.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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About the Author

Geoff Rushton (StateCollege.com)

Geoff Rushton is managing editor for StateCollege.com. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter at @geoffrushton.

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