Passenger With Scissors Slips Past Security at Winnepeg

Arrivals and departures at Winnipeg International Airport were suspended for about 40 minutes late Wednesday after a passenger slipped through security with a pair of scissors.

Unable to locate the passenger, security officials ordered all passengers who had gone through the security gate and were still on airport property to be re-screened.

That included passengers in the departure lounge, at all gate areas and passengers already sitting in two planes waiting for takeoff.

''This is a very rare occurrence in Canada . . . but it has happened before,'' said Renee Fairweather, director of communications with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

Fairweather said security staff saw the scissors in the bag as it passed through the x-ray machine but when they went to retrieve it they picked the wrong bag.

Security staff were unable to locate the bag and couldn't identify the passenger.

''The security staff were busy, there were a lot of passengers boarding and they missed it,'' Fairweather said. ''It does happen.''

She said scissors, regardless of their size, are a prohibited item and passengers are not allowed to board a plane with them.

Christine Alongi, manager of communications with the Winnipeg Airports Authority, said some might consider the security measures an annoyance but she said security issues must be taken seriously.

Fairweather said the passenger with the scissors was found during the re-screening and simply had to surrender them before being allowed to continue.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.