WARWICK - About 45 people boarding Continental Airlines Flight 3001 to Newark at T.F. Green Airport were delayed yesterday after a passenger found a utility knife in the aircraft -- a suspected breach of security, officials said.
The passenger alerted airline officials, who alerted the airport police, prompting implementation of a security procedure established after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said.
The passengers were immediately instructed to evacuate the airplane and the adjacent Gate 7 holding area around 2 p.m. yesterday, and to wait to be re-screened by security officials, said Patti Goldstein, vice president of public relations for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.
Airport Police Chief Kevin Hopkins and Joseph Salter, federal security director at Green, conducted a search of the airplane to ensure that there was no other contraband onboard, officials said.
Goldstein said authorities are still investigating to determine where the knife came from and how it got aboard the airplane. Officials believe the plane had made two stops before it arrived at Green.
By the time passengers were re-screened and allowed to board again, the flight was delayed, this time for weather-related reasons, Goldstein said.
"As inconvenient as it may be, it does show that the system is working," Goldstein said.
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