• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Tomato Juice Spill Causes Long Lines At NY Airport

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Oct 21, 2007 11:09 am US/Eastern

Tomato Juice Spill Causes Long Lines At NY Airport

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Tempers grew short at LaGuardia Airport Saturday. The American Airlines terminal was brought to a near-standstill because of an equipment malfunction, but it was the reason for the malfunction that really had people fuming.

People were welcomed to Terminal D of LaGuardia Airport with a line so long, it was difficult to tell where it began, or where it ended - all because someone spilled tomato juice on an x-ray machine.

When CBS 2 HD told one woman the reason for the delays, she asked if we were "kidding," but it was no joke. The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed the spill knocked out one of the five units that screen thousands of passengers here each day.

"That's insane," said Dallas bound passenger Pat Jones. "That shouldn't be our problem, should it?"

But it was.

The delays left many passengers stressed out. "I just want to make sure I make my flight," said one traveler. "I'm not sure that's going to happen."

Few could believe that a major airline terminal could be thrown into chaos by such a simple problem. "It makes one very sad and very worried," said Bonnie Schmitta.

The line to screen passengers started stretched down the length of several city blocks, yet a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Administration shrugged off the incident, saying: "That's the risk you take when you deal with technology."

But people here didn't see it that way. "It's the biggest crock of inefficiency," said Leonard Williams. "Things should be better."

It took all morning and much of the afternoon until things finally did get better. A TSA official said a vendor working at the airport this morning was responsible for the spill.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Water Cooler

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.