HOUSTON (AP) – An airport spokesman says a toy grenade in a passenger’s bag caused a temporary shutdown at a security checkpoint at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
Houston Airport System spokesman Bill Begley says passengers are being allowed to go through the checkpoint after the brief shutdown Thursday morning.
An Associated Press journalist who was in the security line shortly after 4:30 a.m. heard Transportation Security Administration yell “Shut it down!” A TSA agent told KTRK-TV in Houston the novelty grenade belonged to a 17 year old boy scout who was not detained.
Hobby Airport is a hub for Southwest Airlines. The website FlightAware shows delays of an hour or more for flights arriving and departing Hobby Airport.
The shutdown occurred a day after a bomb squad responded to Houston’s other airport, Bush Intercontinental, because of a passenger who made comments about explosives in a bag. That passenger was later detained by police but the international terminal was shut down for about an hour.
