St. Pete-Clearwater airport closed after bomb threat note found in plane restroom

After a serious bomb threat, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Florida was closed on Friday afternoon. The threat started when a flight attendant found a threatening note scribbled on the restroom door of an aeroplane. The note was seen on an Allegiant flight that had arrived from Cincinnati and was preparing to depart again.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri stated that the note was “very explicit” and mentioned an explosive device. He said the threat appeared to be directed at all Allegiant flights. Once the flight attendant informed the pilot, the plane returning to Cincinnati was evacuated immediately.

Sheriff Gualtieri said, “You’ve got to feel for these people who just came to the airport to get on a flight to go about their business, to go see family, friends, to take care of business. To say it’s a disruption and to say it’s a mess is an understatement.”

NO BOMB FOUND, INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

Officials evacuated the passengers and searched other planes too. A total of approximately six Allegiant planes needed to be cleared. Bomb-sniffing dogs and officers were deployed for a complete search. By Friday evening, nearly 98% of the planes that were affected had been searched, and no explosives were detected.

Although no device was discovered, Sheriff Gualtieri stated that the situation was still very serious. “One of the things we’re trying to figure out is, was that writing on the plane when it arrived here and nobody saw it? Or was it written while it was here?” he said. “Those are things we’re trying to figure out. Everybody’s a suspect at this point.”

As of Friday night, no one had been arrested, but investigators had identified some persons of interest. The airport was declared safe, but normal operations were still affected as the investigation continued.