La Guardia Airport workers who thought they spotted a smoking piece of luggage being loaded onto a plane Tuesday caused a massive evacuation that lasted more than an hour, authorities said.
Three ramp workers saw the smoke about 11:50 a.m. at a Richmond, Virginia-bound plane, and the bag was taken to a remote location for examination by the NYPD bomb squad.
The bag’s owner was hauled off the Delta jet for questioning at around noon when three ramp workers thought smoke from the plane was actually coming from his luggage. The bag was deemed harmless, and Terminal C reopened at about 1 p.m.
The plane has since taken off to Richmond, Virginia.
No one was injured, and the Port Authority’s Police Crash Fire Rescue Unit was on scene.
Hundreds of flyers gathered outside of the terminal when it was evacuated.