Travelers at Orlando International Airport flew into a panic Friday night when they mistook an overheating camera battery for gunshots in the main terminal.
A lithium-ion battery in a camera overheated on Friday and exploded, airport officials tweeted. Passengers who heard the loud popping sound and feared an attack sprinted past checkpoints, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and the airport was evacuated.
After investigation, it has been determined that a lithium-ion battery inside a camera overheated and exploded. As a result of the incident, a ground stop was issued and a number of flights were held. Passengers have been allowed to reenter and checkpoints have reopened.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) November 10, 2017
my dad just sent me this from #OrlandoAirport what’s going on pic.twitter.com/Nvz9rbMmRq
— LORANCÉ (@lorancedunbar) November 11, 2017
Numerous flights were delayed or canceled while officials at the busy airport, which serves more than 43 million travelers per year, investigated the situation. Many passengers who had already boarded were also forced to de-plane. Due to chaos near the security areas, airport officials brought many passengers back through the lines for re-screening, according to the Sentinel.
“Now they’re bringing people out of their gates, off-loading them to be screened again,” passenger Mike Robinson told the Sentinel. “There’s thousands and thousands of people. … I look back and I see a sea of people.”
“It was pandemonium,” he said.
The airport eventually reopened all checkpoints hours later, but many passengers were forced to return on Saturday. The airport warned on Twitter that a “higher passenger volume is expected” on Saturday.
