Joker prompts evacuation of LAX

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A man who joked about having explosives in his checked luggage is facing federal charges for prompting an evacuation at Los Angeles International Airport.

Authorities shut down the Southwest and U.S. Airways terminal at LAX for two hours Sunday afternoon delaying five flights and hundreds of passengers, The Daily Breeze, a Torrance, Calif., newspaper, reported Monday.

The newspaper said the unidentified man joked to another passenger during a Southwest flight from Texas that he was carrying explosives in his checked luggage.

The unidentified man was taken into custody after he left the plane in Los Angeles.

Members of the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad searched the man's carry-on and checked baggage but found no explosives.