Munich Airport Reopens After Security Breach

January 21, 2010

Munich airport was re-opened on Wednesday after a three-hour shut down caused when a passenger left the security check even though his laptop computer set off an explosives detector, police said.

About 1,200 police did not find the man in their search of the terminal, which was shut down and completely evacuated. All passengers had to go through security checks a second time after the terminal was re-opened, an airport spokesman said.

“We checked the terminal intensively and we’re certain that there are no explosives or dangerous materials in the terminal,” said Peter Pruemm, a spokesman Munich’s Franz Josef Airport, Germany’s second largest airport.

Pruemm said an earlier statement by federal police that the laptop had been confiscated turned out to be inaccurate. He said the man took his laptop and left the security area before it could be put through the security device a second time.

“He took his laptop and left the security area,” Pruemm said. “The laptop was not confiscated. That information was inaccurate.”

More than 100 flights were delayed, police said.

Fights bound for destinations in Germany and abroad were delayed as security officials searched the airport’s Terminal 2 for the passenger, airport spokesman Edgar Engert said.

The security breach happened at about 3:30 pm (1430 GMT) and the closed-off section of the airport was reopened at 6:42 pm (1742 GMT).

The police spokesman said the closed-area affected European Union flights by German carrier Lufthansa and its partner airlines.

(Reuters)