JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Some flights have been delayed or canceled at the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport on Monday, January 17 after a threat.
The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA) reported the airport received a “verbal security threat” from two individuals. Officials said the incident was reported to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which evacuated passengers and employees at the airport.
A passenger sent a video to WJTV 12 News that showed people being evacuated from the airport Monday afternoon.
Deborah Rae Wright, a passenger, said, “They came on and said, ‘You need to grab your things, get off the plane, and exit to outside, and go back through security.’ So, it was kind of like, we’re just going to have to go back through security. But when we got into the main building, they shunted us outside.”
One flight landed during the incident, but passengers have remained onboard.
The airport reopened just before 4:00 p.m. on Monday. JMAA officials said a full investigation into the threat is ongoing.
Paul A. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of JMAA, stated, “I’d like to thank JMAA PD, JPD, Rankin and Madison County law enforcement personnel who assisted on this incident to secure the facility and help conduct the search for any real threat to safety.”