Passengers at Victoria International Airport all had to be rescreened by security Saturday morning, after a breach in the secure part of the terminal.
Airport officials say screening staff discovered that an aerosol sunscreen can, a prohibited item, made its way through around 9:25 a.m.
“The item had gone through, set off an alarm and at that point security people check the tapes and the records but unfortunately between that time, the passenger managed to retrieve their luggage and had left,” said Victoria Airport Authority Director of Business Development and Community Relations Rod Hunchak.
After not being able to find the exact passenger’s information, the decision was made by the director of security to re-screen all passengers until the item was found.
Multiple flights were delayed and Sidney RCMP was called in to help with crowd control.
Using surveillance footage from the screening area, security officials were able to match the bag with a man who had already boarded a Westjet plane that was preparing to depart.
“It turned out the passenger was on a WestJet flight waiting to depart and through the footage that was looked at, they identified the passenger and found that individual and subsequently found the prohibited item,” added Hunchak.
The prohibited item was an aerosol can of sunblock that the passenger either forgot was in his bag, or didn’t know was illegal to have in a carry-on.
“It’s one of the prohibited items that is published and most times people just forget what they have in their bag unfortunately whether it’s a bottle of water or in this case suntan lotion,” said Hunchak.
Normal airport operations resumed by about 12:30
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