DALLAS — DFW Airport is back to normal operations after a "technical error" forced the evacuation of Terminal E, the re-screening of passengers, and caused flight delays for thousands of passengers.
A spokesperson for the airport tells WFAA that around midday, during a systems upgrade at Terminal E, a pre-recorded message was played by mistake.
"Due to a technical error, a message was erroneously activated inside Terminal E asking passengers to leave the building," the airport media relations team announced on Twitter and in statements issued to WFAA. "There is no emergency. Airport staff made additional announcements notifying passengers of the false alarm. Thank you for your patience. We apologize for the inconvenience but safety and security is our first priority."
But by then, the damage was done. Terminal E was completely evacuated and passengers, who had already been through TSA and had been waiting for their flights, had to repeat the security screening process. At times, the lines snaked past ticket counters and baggage claim.
"Even when you see a long line during the holidays, or whatever could be happening, I've never seen it like this," said former WFAA health and wellness reporter Sonia Azad, who says she waited in the TSA line for more than an hour-and-a-half. "People keep arriving and they're like stunned right, they're like what is going on."
"When you have those doors open and people moving freely without TSA oversight you have to get everybody out, rescreen them, and then repopulate. And that's exactly what we did," said Heath Montgomery, VP Communications and Marketing at DFW International Airport.
By late afternoon, Terminal E had resumed near-normal operations with TSA wait times back to normal levels.