Person slipping past security at Darwin Airport forces long delays, missed flights
Hundreds of frustrated passengers were forced to evacuate, forcing long delays and many missing flights. Here’s how the security breach occurred.
Northern Territory
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Hundreds of passengers were forced to evacuate the Darwin Airport terminal on Friday due to a security breach, leading to widespread delays and missed flights.
The Airport Development Group is investigating after a person managed to slip past security without being screened at about 12.30am, forcing everyone in the terminal to be re-screened.
“It was wild,” one woman whose flight to Brisbane was delayed by almost two hours said.
“Literally everyone from the top floor down to the bottom had to leave.
“There was an announcement, ‘Attention, attention, there has been a security breach, please follow staff for instruction’.
“Then security and airport staff very calmly came upstairs and told everyone they had to go downstairs to all go through security again.
“People were surprisingly calm and airport staff were friendly and handled it well.”
Another passenger took to Facebook to say there was “chaos” at the airport.
“Chaos at Darwin Airport, standing in line for over an hour, security scanners stopped,” she said.
Flight logs show at least six departures were delayed.
The Airport Development Group said an internal review was underway.
“The breach involved one passenger entering the secure area without authorisation, which necessitated the re-screening of all passengers.
All passengers were able to board their flights, albeit delayed,” it said in a statement.
“Darwin International Airport apologises for the inconvenience to those travelling and would like to express its appreciation for their patience and understanding this morning.
Executive General Manager Airports Rob Porter said the company took safety “very seriously, and the security of our passengers is paramount”.
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Originally published as Person slipping past security at Darwin Airport forces long delays, missed flights
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