One overheated computer battery caused hours of inconvenience for travelers — and numerous flight delays for airlines.
The airlines’ departures were delayed — either slightly, or by hours — as planes waited to fill up with passengers.
Travelers evacuated from Terminal 2, were sent to Terminal 1, the Hawaiian Airlines terminal.
The line spilled out the door.
Those passengers were joined by hundreds more — who were just getting to the airport for their flights.
Sandy King, from Hot Springs, Arkansas, was heading for Kauai with family members, unaware of the incident that had affected security screening at the airport.
“We hadn’t heard anything, got on the iPad, checked some news sources, new age, finding out how things happen, and saw where it was a scare about some computers.”
He said they had only been in line 20 or 30 minutes — and felt lucky — because at that moment, the line of people awaiting TSA screening was about a quarter-mile long, extending as far as the eye could see.
Airport employees patrolled the line, inviting anyone with TSA pre-check to go inside the terminal — to a shorter line for screening.
By about 5:45 p.m., the security screening line at terminal one still extended out the door, but was moving rather quickly.
