Airports, Americas, Europe, In the News, Weekly

This week: Alligator found at Chicago, Fire in Montreal & ‘street view’ for Gatwick

Another week has passed and we’re back on with our weekly airport news round-up. This week we have the following topics for you

It’s no surprise the U.S. airports are on edge for the smallest airport security threat after what happened at LAX last week. Therefore it must have clearly been a shock when a man broke past airport security checkpoint at Seattle Airport. ABC News reported that a possibly intoxicated man allegedly bolted past terminal security, ran onto the tarmac and broke into an airplane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). According to the story the man, who has not been identified by police but has been described as in his late 20s, was at checkpoint 5 in concourse D at Sea-Tac airport Friday at approximately 8:30 p.m. when he sprinted past security agents. The man was later arrested, the plane bomb-swept and it then departed to Miami with a 98 minute delay.

A welcoming story reached us on Thursday when TechCrunch reported that Google launched its street view service for London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW). According to the article, Gatwick Street View is available for all public areas in Gatwick, across both the North and South Terminals. So now you can wander around the check-in desks, hang out by the luggage carousels, or nose around the shops — without worrying whether your flight is about to depart.

Canada saw an airport scare on Monday, when a fire broke out on a Moroccan airliner after landing at Montreal Trudeau Airport (YUL). ABC News reported that the fire broke out on the Royal Air Maroc plane while the crew was unloading the Boeing 767 after it had arrived from Casablanca. A conveyor belt overheated and ignited after the bags were pulled from the cargo hold shortly after arrival at 5 p.m., an official said. Some of the 250 passengers and eight crew members were treated for smoke inhalation while others were injured as they jumped from the emergency slides used to evacuate the plane.

And to finish the week off, we found an animal story from Chicago. The Guardian reported that a small alligator (not pictured) found under an escalator at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport (ORD) has left authorities puzzled. Apparently a maintenance worker discovered the alligator, which is about a foot (30cm) long in Terminal 3, said a Chicago police spokesman. An officer captured the reptile by putting a rubbish bin over it. No one was injured.

That’s all for this week, safe, alligator free travel!

[Picture By James, scubadive67 on flickr.com Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71217725@N00/3176098/]