SFO terminal evacuated, flights diverted amid ‘suspicious package’ investigation

A “suspicious package” prompted the evacuation Sunday of a terminal at San Francisco International Airport, causing flight diversions and delays and thrusting passengers’ travel plans into disarray.

Shortly before 1 p.m., a message posted to the airport’s Twitter account said the San Francisco Police Department was clearing the Terminal 2 food court and D gate area “out of an abundance of caution” because of an “unattended item.”

Around 2:30 p.m., the airport tweeted that the issue had been resolved and that “passengers should be cleared shortly.”

#SFOAlert – SFPD responding to Terminal 2 food court area to clear an unattended item. Food court and D gate areas being cleared out of abundance of caution.

— San Francisco International Airport (SFO) ✈️ (@flySFO) May 21, 2023

It was not immediately clear what item caused the evacuation. In an emailed statement, police said they’d responded to the terminal around 11:30 a.m. due to reports of a “suspicious package.” Around 2:30 p.m., a spokesperson for the department said “the item was just cleared safe and area is being reopened.”

At least two flights were diverted to San Jose International Airport, while others were delayed.

Passengers at the airport, upset about the lack of information, took to social media.

“It would be really great to the 1000’s of passengers if you’d make some sort of announcement, post something on a board or ANYTHING other than letting people wander around in herds with no info about their flights,” tweeted one person around 2 p.m. “I was told my flight would be held. It left.”