Hours-Long Ordeal With Police Shuts Down Orlando International Airport
An hours-long ordeal involving a police investigation rendered an entire terminal at Orlando International Airport non-operational on Monday afternoon.
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No Extra Stress at the Airport, Please
Normally, being late for a flight is an awful thing–and one from which the fallout seems to have a never-ending ripple effect.
There’s the initial stress of having planned to be on time, followed by the terrible realization that being late has become unavoidable. Those are then followed by the official realization that you’ve missed your flight. Then you concede that you have to visit your airline’s ticket counter and nearly grovel for the privilege of boarding a different aircraft to arrive at your destination.
Cue the panic over whether there will be another available flight that day.
But what do you do on those rare occasions when you’re on time for your flight, you’ve checked in, and you’re seated, waiting for instructions to begin boarding, only to discover that you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon?
An Investigation Leads to a Major Airport Closure
That’s likely at least one of the scenarios faced by passengers at Orlando International Airport on Monday afternoon when one of the main roadways to the airport, as well as one of its three main terminals, was shut down in response to an hours-long investigation conducted by law enforcement.
Just before 5:00 p.m. local time, Orlando International posted an advisory on X, formerly Twitter, letting passengers know about the closure, saying only the “law enforcement partners are currently investigating a call” at Terminal B. MCO asked for passengers’ assistance in following instructions as they were given by onsite airport staff members.
⚠️Advisory: Law enforcement partners are currently investigating a call. Terminal B road traffic is closed. Please follow instructions from onsite airport personnel. Updates will be provided as the situation develops.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) February 26, 2024
As of 6:30 p.m. local time, law enforcement was still hard at work in response to a call at Terminal B.
Update/3: Law enforcement partners are still responding to a call on Terminal B. We thank you for your patience at this time and we ask you to please continue to follow instructions from personnel onsite.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) February 27, 2024
The closure interrupted traffic to Terminal B, which is home to several major carriers, including American Airlines, Delta, Alaska Airlines, and United.
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Only minutes before 7:00 p.m., MCO announced that law enforcement had finally cleared the call that initially set their investigation into motion. Airport personnel stated that road traffic to the affected terminal would reopen shortly, and they thanked passengers for their continued patience during the ordeal and for their cooperation as the airport worked quickly to resume its regular operations at Terminal B.
At approximately 9:15 p.m. local time, the Orlando Sentinel posted an update, stating that the call to Terminal B was in response to a suspicious bag in the area.
“In an abundance of caution, traffic to airport Terminal B was diverted,” said Ashley Papagni, spokesperson for the Orlando Fire Department. The department added that investigators ultimately found no threats to the public.
