Fort Lauderdale airport briefly evacuated over bomb threat

An alleged bomb threat led to a huge backlog of traffic and delayed flights

A suspected bomb threat temporarily paralysed all activities at Terminal 1 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a man’s suspicious activity.

An unidentified man was at a bag at a checkpoint and made a reference to a bomb, putting staff on high alert and them calling the police, according to WSVN.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office Airport District responded to the terminal just before 5.30pm local time on Sunday and detained the man for questioning.

Meanwhile, the upper level of Terminal 1 was completely evacuated so the sheriff’s office bomb squad could investigate, the airport wrote on X.

The evacuation led to a huge backlog of passengers and disturbances to traffic that led to a gridlock of people trying to get in and out of the airport and on eastbound Interstate 595.

The bomb investigation led to a delay in some flights (Getty Images)

Passengers who were waiting for their flights were becoming increasingly concerned whether or not they would make it in the air.

“We were sitting there in the Uber for about an hour,” said one traveller.

“It’s very frustrating, especially because there’s no information that’s being given to us. We don’t know what’s happening, and we just know that there’s a parking lot, this traffic.”

Other passengers said to WSVN that they would rather wait and be safe.

“I’m sure the flights will adjust, right? To allow us to board, so there’s no stress. I’d rather us be safe,” said another traveller.

The temporary evacuation did delay several flights, as the terminal was out of operation for approximately three hours.

The airport has since given the all-clear, and all operations have returned to normal.