A package apparently made to look like a small bomb was discovered early Monday at Long Beach Airport, prompting a partial evacuation and delaying flights for nearly two hours.
The package was discovered about 8:30 a.m. in the rear seat of a rental car in the airport's rental car parking lot, across from the main entrance.
The device, which contained no explosives, was safely detonated by bomb squad experts before the airport was re-opened to passengers about 10:30 a.m.
Authorities were questioning the car's renter, who claimed to have no knowledge about the device, which police said resembled a pipe bomb.
"It was cylindrical in shape, gun-metal in color, capped on both ends with wires coming out of it," said Cannan. "Anyone who would look at this would have the same thoughts. It's not the day to do something like that."
Several hundred passengers who had not passed through airport security were evacuated off-premises, while those already inside were allowed to stay, said Airport Spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson.
Two flights departed during the ordeal, and all incoming flights were permitted to land. Departures scheduled after the incident began were delayed.
The hoax was the second such incident of the day.
Earlier in the morning, authorities received an anonymous bomb threat at the Port of Los Angeles that turned out to be a hoax.
The Coast Guard and several other agencies searched Pier 300 at the port in San Pedro after the bomb threat and did not find a device.
Members of the Long Beach Police Department assisted in the search.
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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