Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport Update
November 16, 2001  (2:45pm)
Three hours after up to 10,000 travelers were evacuated from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, police officials reopened concourses at the world's busiest airport. Officers blew whistles and issued orders on bullhorns about 2:45 p.m. for employees to first return to the terminals.  The thousands of people who had flooded the street outside the airport were asked to make room first for wheelchair passengers to enter the airport.  Police indicated that employees would be allowed back into the terminals.  Police also said people in wheelchairs, and the elderly would be allowed back into the concourse first. The doors then opened for other passengers, who were forced to go back through the long screening process in order to reach their terminals. 
The U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the evacuation of between 5,000 to 10,000 people at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport Friday after a man rushed past a security checkpoint.