The Transportation Security Administration's screening area at Charleston's Yeager Airport was briefly emptied this morning, and inbound and outbound air traffic was temporarily halted, after TSA officers found what appeared to be a hand grenade in a passenger's carry-on bag.
The grenade turned out to have been either a deactivated weapon or a realistic replica, according to airport spokesman Mike Plante.
The suspicious carry-on item was detected at 9:20 a.m., and the man who allegedly brought it to the airport, John Gregg Goodykoontz, 61, of Bridgeport, was detained as the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department Bomb Squad examined the device.
As the examination was taking place, departing passengers waiting to pass through the screening gate were moved back to the ticketing lobby and baggage claim area as a safety precaution, while passengers who had already cleared security were moved to a boarding area a safe distance from the gate, Plante said.
Airplanes that had been boarded by passengers at the time of the incident were not allowed to depart until the incident had been cleared.
Plante said a speedy response to the TSA's detection of the grenade by the Kanawha sheriff's bomb squad and deputies and Yeager Airport Police allowed the incident to be cleared within 25 minutes.
"Hopefully, no one missed their flights or connections," he said.
Goodykoontz received a misdemeanor citation for violating Yeager Airport regulations by allegedly attempting to carry a prohibited item into the sterile area of the airport and for violating state law by transporting or possessing a hoax bomb, Plante said.
Attempting to carry deactivated or replica hand grenades on commercial U.S. flights is also a violation of TSA rules.
Plante said Monday's incident marked the first time in his 12-year affiliation with Yeager that an inert hand grenade had been by security screeners at the Charleston airport.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169 or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.