About 2,000 people were forced to evacuate and some planes were grounded for hours due to a suspicious bag found at Winnipeg Airport that turned out to be a false alarm.
Airport spokesperson Tyler MacAfee said the decision to evacuate the terminal came at around 7 a.m. on Sunday, and the all-clear came about one hour later.
“As of 11 a.m. things are basically back to normal,” MacAfee told CTV News.
Passenger Cagla Cakmak was in the terminal when the evacuation call was made.
“They told us that everyone had to leave the airport right away, so we all ran to a parkade,” she said.
“Everyone was very calm, the staff directed us very well,” she added. “Then they made the announcement after half an hour or so that we could go back in.”
Gertie Dae had a different experience. She was on her way to drop her daughter off at the airport when she encountered police blocking traffic outside the terminal.
When it was time to advance, driving was chaotic, according to Dae.
“We’re all stressed already, so maybe next time it could be better,” she said. “Everybody’s nerves (are) very bad at that moment.”
It was the third evacuation at the airport in the past year. Last September, a suspicious bag forced people out of the departures area. In August, the airport was evacuated due to smoke in a computer.
MacAfee said that 17 flights were delayed by the latest incident.
He added that the airport is always refining its procedures.
On Sunday, airport staff worked to identify passengers whose flights were leaving soonest, and “got those people through security first,” according to MacAfee.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Beth Macdonell
