An unspecified ‘security threat’ at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire prompted a full-scale emergency response that saw passengers evacuated from the terminal building and the airport temporarily locked down as law enforcement descended on the airfield.
Eyewitnesses say they saw police and sniffer dogs board a Spirit Airlines aircraft at the airport, while there are unconfirmed reports that a bomb hoax may have been the cause of the security alert.
In a statement, the airport said the incident occurred around 11 am on Saturday and all passengers had been evacuated from the secure area of the airport. All passengers will need to be rescreened by the TSA before they are allowed to board their flights.
In a follow-up tweet, the airport said law enforcement had completed a “cautionary security sweep” of the airport and given the all-clear for operations to continue.
During the incident, some passengers were held on aircraft, including a Southwest plane that had just landed at the airport. Operations were only allowed to restart once the complete security sweep had been concluded.
The New Hampshire Department of Safety confirmed that various law enforcement responded to the incident, including State Police and the local bomb squad.
