Gaseous odour forces evacuation, international flights grounded

By TAMARA McKENZIE,Guardian Staff Reporter tamara@nasguard.com

A canister containing a "foul smelling liquid" used to detect the source of propane leaks, resulted in the total evacuation and closure of the international section of the Nassau International Airport [NIA] on Wednesday.

Around 8:00 a.m., reports of an offencive "gas-like" scent spread throughout the international section of NIA, and was said to be particularly concentrated in Terminal Two.

At the time, the unknown odour forced Airport Authority officials to immediately escort more than 1,000 travellers to the grassy median outside of the terminal. An estimated 200 airline and Airport Authority staff were also evacuated, and some 15 flights scheduled for morning departure had to be grounded.

Upon determining the source of the odour some two-and-a-half hours later, General Manager of the Airport Authority, Idris Reid, told the press the canister was being used by an "outside source" and was found at least a 1,000 feet away from the terminal.

"The breeze carried the odour into the building, and the air-conditioning system also picked up the odour once it got into the building. From what I am hearing, it [the canister] was probably left on the ground. We don't know who left the canister there, and we think it was left by one of the propane gas supplies, but we are checking it."

According to Mr Reid, the source of the offencive scent was eventually found after The Bahamas Environmental, Scientific and Technology [BEST] Commission, and the Ministry of Works conducted tests in the area to locate any toxic substances. It took investigators a little over two hours to determine the odour was not toxic. And by noon, the stench had somewhat dissipated.

"We had to seal the terminal and do some other preliminary checks," said Mr Reid. "Once those were done, we had people go in with the proper technical equipment who checked oxygen levels and the purity of the air to determine the type of odour that we were dealing with. But we knew that it was nothing dangerous, as far a bomb was concerned and we knew that it was an odour that we had to deal with."

Dismissing claims that passengers arriving on international flights were not allowed to disembark, he explained that those aircraft that normally park at Terminal Two, were redirected to International Pier-C. He admitted, however, that there was difficulty transporting persons to the United States because all U.S. Customs and Immigration operations had ceased, and there could be no pre-clearance.

When The Guardian arrived on the scene around 9:30 a.m., travellers, hopeful the delay would only last minutes, were found sprawled on the grass, enjoying the sunshine before returning to chilly destinations. Some scheduled to take connecting flights, gathered in groups hoping to ascertain the cause of the delay.

Paul Escobar of Miami, Florida, told The Guardian he was scheduled to take the 10 a.m. flight on American Airlines, but when he arrived at the airport shortly after 8:00 a.m., the area was already closed and evacuated.

An obviously irate Nicholas Pavli of Detroit, Michigan, said he appreciated the efforts of airport officials looking out for the safety of travellers, but he was upset about airline representatives updating passengers about the situation.

Before discovering the source of the odour, it was initially reported that there was a propane gas leak in a section of the airport, while some speculated that the leak was liquefied petroleum gas. These claims were later ruled out by a team from the Ministry of Environmental Health, the Ministry of Works, fire officials, the Civil Aviation Authority and representatives from Shell and Esso gas stations who inspected the terminal wearing thick chemical suits and oxygen masks.

Throughout the wait, Reginald Grant, Deputy General Manager of Aviation at Nassau Flight Services, begged fed up passengers to be patient. He told The Guardian that people could not be redirected to the domestic terminal for departure, as the area lacked certain necessities, such as passenger manifests, boarding passes, or access to electronic ticket records.

However, Khino Ferguson, a Security Coordinator at NIA, redirected Miami and Ft. Lauderdale passengers of Bahamasair to the domestic section of the airport.

Around 11:25 a.m., a voice on an intercom asked all American Eagle passengers to assemble in the international parking lot for information from an agent. The announcement led to a mad rush toward a front door of the terminal, as passengers suspected it meant the imminent resumption of flights. However, passengers were cordially asked to more away from the doors. Some five minutes later, news began to spread that the building was not open. Those passengers making it into the terminal were quickly escorted outside by officials from Immigration and Boarder Protection who said the "all clear" signal was not yet in place.

It was not until 11:40 a.m. that the international section of the airport reopened and passengers were summoned to enter the building. Hearing the news, people gathered at entrances. Soon, airport operations returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Mr Reid commended his team for carrying out a "superb" job, highlighting that no one was hurt during the closure. He said the Authority would move into the second stage of completing a review to examine why the canister was left in the area and they would also determine what "systems" should be re-examined.

"Basically, though, I can tell you that our fire and security services responded with the rapidity that we expected. But our responsibility is to make sure that people are safe and they can travel safely to and from our terminals, and that is paramount."