LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A few thousand bleary-eyed passengers heading for early flights out of Los Angeles on Thursday morning ran into major delays after a metal detector was discovered to be unplugged.
Five terminals at Los Angeles International Airport were evacuated at 6:30 a.m. PST, about an hour after authorities discovered a metal detector at Terminal 4 was unplugged and not working. Airport security procedures required that everyone leave the airport terminal and go through screening again.
Officials at LAX said the 2-hour delay affected around 325 flights, primarily from United, Delta, Continental and American Airlines.
The incident came a day after 500 passengers were re-screened at Buffalo's airport after a metal detector was found to be partially unplugged.
LAX has seen a recent spate of security scares. Three bomb scares this week were reported at the busy airport, including one Wednesday afternoon that was triggered by an unattended briefcase and delayed seven outbound flights.
