Travel at MidAmerica airport in Illinois came to a halt after the laptop was flagged on Sunday afternoon. (Google Street View/iStock)
A laptop computer with “suspicious”-looking wires was deemed to pose no threat to travelers at Illinois’ MidAmerica Airport following a bomb scare on Sunday.
The Illinois Secretary of State Police had originally deployed a bomb squad to the Mascoutah, Ill. Airport on Sunday at around 2 p.m. after TSA officials flagged the passenger’s computer during screening, KMOV reported.
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Several flights out of the airport were canceled while officials inspected the device, and passengers on incoming flights were held on their aircraft for more than three hours before allowing travelers to deplane at MidAmerica.
"Very traumatic and unfortunate the staff just wasn't prepared for what happened, we've been sitting on the plane for over three hours," passenger Mark Davis told KMOV. "The engines were turned to idle so there was no heat so it’s just been traumatic and kind of claustrophobic.”
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The airport announced the device was harmless at around 5 p.m., according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It turned out to be a laptop with a connected hard drive.
The airline thanked passengers for their patience via Twitter, but passengers were later told some of their Allegiant flights would not be rescheduled, Fox 2 News reported.
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Others were also upset about being kept in the dark as to the nature of the cancelations, with one passenger, Mike Arnold, telling KMOV that airport officials were “keeping people away” but not offering any explanation.
"And when we find out that it was something suspicious, you kinda wonder why we weren’t evacuated from the building,” he added.
A representative for MidAmerica confirmed to Fox News that operations were "back to normal" as of Sunday evening.
Allegiant Air also tells Fox that a total of five flights were canceled, and flight crews "hit their maximum duty time" while waiting for the airport's investigation to conclude. As a result, they could not continue with their flights. Passengers were offered refunds for the unflown portion of their trips, or allowed to rebook on separate Allegiant flights for no added fees, the airline stated.
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