Bomb squad called to CAL’s Miami gate

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - A Miami-Dade police department bomb squad was called out to check a suspicious package yesterday afternoon outside the gate of a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight at Miami International Airport. Miami Airport and US aviation authorities grounded and searched CAL flight 483 after a ticking noise was reportedly heard coming from luggage aboard the aircraft, CAL chairman Rabindra Moonan said yesterday. An airport spokesman said the suspicious package was discovered around 3 pm.
Moonan said the flight was due to leave Miami yesterday afternoon for T&T via Kingston, Jamaica, when the situation occurred. As a precautionary measure aviation authorities ordered passengers to disembark and Concourse J of the Miami International Airport was evacuated to a nearby area as they investigated. Moonan said some “hysteria” ensued when one passenger returned to the plane, apparently to retrieve a laptop computer.