The culprit in Sunday’s security incident at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport that led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from the terminal building and caused several flight delays?
A “modified hairdryer.”
The item was located inside a passenger’s checked baggage. As it made its way through a computer tomography (CT) scanner, the hairdryer triggered an algorithmic alert for further inspection, Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lorie Dankers said Monday.
The hairdryer was heavily modified with tape, she said, to the point that TSA agents could not determine exactly what it was or why it looked the way it did. That prompted TSA to evacuate the terminal — relocating hundreds of passengers outside the airport to wait.
“If something looks suspicious on screen and they’re not able to resolve it, and our explosive specialist was not able to resolve that without getting better visibility on it — and these are people who are highly trained in their position — we have to use and trust their expertise,” Dankers said. “And that’s what happened here.”
The decision to evacuate the terminal was based on security protocol approved by the TSA, said Interim Airport Director Diane Jackson.
Parker Lathrop, chief deputy of operations with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, said a call regarding a suspicious item that could have been a potential explosive was received just before noon on Sunday. The sheriff’s office investigated the incident alongside TSA and the airport operations team, ultimately determining the item was not a hazard. Aspen Ambulance and the Aspen Fire Department also responded.
Four on-duty deputies — along with Sheriff Michael Buglione, Undersheriff Alex Burchetta and Lathrop — responded to the call. Once at the airport, sheriff’s office personnel were able to identify and interview the owner of the bag.
“Once we felt comfortable with who they were, then we could start to look at the bag itself,” Lathrop said.
If they had not been able to identify the owners, or if the bag’s contents remained suspicious, the Grand Junction Bomb Squad would have been called. The bomb squad had been informed of the incident and was ready for mobilization, Lathrop said, but local authorities held them off from making the 2.5-hour drive to Aspen.
Working through the potential threat and reopening the airport took about 1.5 hours, and the terminal reopened around 2 p.m., according to a Pitkin County news release.
Aspen-Pitkin County Airport staff and security personnel reinspect evacuated passengers’ luggage ahead of the commercial terminal’s reopening on Sunday afternoon after a potential security threat caused by a “modified hairdryer” inside checked baggage was resolved. Jason Charme/Aspen Daily News
Lathrop said no one with the sheriff’s office could recall an event in which a security threat prompted terminal evacuation or an incident related to a potential threat in a checked bag.
He stressed that the passenger did nothing wrong.
“[They’re] entirely allowed to pack what they packed. No one violated any rules or policies with what they had packed in the bag,” he said. “For some reason, it didn’t hit when they flew here, but it did hit on the way out.”
Dankers said to avoid similar situations, passengers should consider packing in an organized manner to avoid scanner confusion. Informing the airline gate agent of modified electronics also is an option, she said.
“When you’re traveling, especially with common items and they look modified, [people should] think twice about traveling with those, because it can cause incidents like this,” she said.
Lathrop and Dankers defended the response and evacuation, saying the response is based on the agents and technology’s expertise and it’s better to be overly cautious than regret having done too little.
“When the equipment [detects] something that could be a potential security threat, a potential explosive, we take that very seriously,” Dankers said. “When it comes to security, you have to get it right every time.”
Impacts to the public
In total, four inbound flights and 10 outbound flights were impacted by delays of an hour or longer by Sunday’s terminal closure.
According to flight data compiled by Airplanners Inc., all afternoon outbound flights were delayed “significantly” due to multiple aircraft on the ground during the evacuation, meaning passengers and their luggage needed to be rescreened before embarking.
One inbound United Airlines flight from Denver International Airport was diverted back, but ultimately it was able to arrive in Aspen — almost four hours late.
“There’s no doubt that many passengers on those outbound flights probably missed their original scheduled connection from Denver, [Dallas-Fort Worth] and Atlanta,” Bill Tomcich, managing partner of Airplanners Inc., wrote in an email to Aspen Daily News.
Dankers confirmed that the passenger with the hairdryer was permitted to continue with travel plans. While the hairdryer was determined not to be a hazard, Dankers did not know if it was returned to its owner or not.
The evacuation did not extend to the general aviation terminal, as passengers on private planes are not subject to TSA inspection and the terminal is a separate building. General aviation air service was largely uninterrupted during the closure.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience with everything,” Jackson said. “Our first priority is safety. We appreciate their patience and apologize for any inconvenience that it may have caused them.”
