"Suspicious package" at Hartsfield.

[Ben E Lou]

Concourse D at Hartsfield has been closed, and the APD Bomb Squad called in, due to a "suspicious package" in an AJC dispenser. Here's hoping this is just some guy who stuck his trash in there when he got out his newspaper.

[Eaglesfan27]

Any further word on this?

[Ben E Lou]

Well, they gave the all-clear, but didn't say what it was. I don't know whether or not it will even make the news, depending on how serious it was or wasn't. It was a "breaking news" cut-in on a local news/talk radio station several times this morning, and I haven't heard anything else since the all-clear.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks for the update. As many probably do, I have relatives flying soon, and am worried about any potential dangers during this busy travel season.

[Ben E Lou]

It was a "coin device" accidentally left in the paper dispenser after routine maintenance.

[Buzzbee]

I'm just wondering what the over/under is on how long it will take for a "Suspicious package" found... parody thread to crop up. I'd set it at 20 minutes from now.

[Ben E Lou]

Flights halted by suspect package

Flights on two airlines at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were halted for nearly two hours Monday when a suspicious package was discovered in a newspaper box.

The package was found shortly after 8 a.m. inside an Atlanta Journal-Constitution box near the middle of Concourse D, said airport spokeswoman Lanii Thomas.

The concourse was not evacuated, but Thomas said police moved passengers "a safe distance" away and prohibited people from entering the concourse.

The Atlanta police bomb squad removed the package about 9:40 a.m., Thomas said.

The device looked suspicious because it had wires and was connected to a battery, but turned out to be a harmless old coin collecting device for the vending box, Atlanta police said.

The coin device may have been replaced that day by a serviceman and inadvertently left inside the box, police said.

-- Staff and wire reports