University Park Airport Reopens After Evacuation for ‘Suspicious Item’ Found in Luggage

Updated at 11 a.m. on March 4.

University Park Airport reopened early Saturday morning after being evacuated Friday evening when a “suspicious item” was found in a piece of checked luggage, according to Penn State police.

A hazardous device team “was able to render safe the suspicious contents” of a bag checked for a flight to Chicago and there was “no current threat, police reported just before 11 p.m. Friday. The airport resumed normal operations at 4 a.m. on Saturday.

“Shortly after 10 p.m., bomb technicians cleared the bag after they determined that there was nothing of danger inside,” Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.

A Penn State spokesperson added that there were no explosives in the luggage.

Explosives detection dogs were brought in for a sweep of the terminal in preparation for reopening, Farbstein said.

The general aviation terminal was evacuated out of “an abundance of caution,” after a TSA employee flagged the item as suspicious around 4:40 p.m., according to university officials. The airport was closed to air traffic and passengers and the the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop throughout Friday night as police and the FBI investigated the item.

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. Multiple inbound and outbound flights were listed as delayed or canceled.

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

In addition to law enforcement, 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.

It also occurred one day after a 40-year-old Carbon County man was arrested for allegedly hiding an explosive in a suitcase checked in at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown for an Allegiant Air flight to Orlando.