Operations back to normal in Hilo after TSA screening malfunction

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - An “equipment failure” at Hilo International Airport’s TSA checkpoint has been fixed, according to transportation officials.

The issue impacted TSA’s ability to screen carry-on bags, and triggered flight delays and long wait times for travelers upwards of two to three hours Monday.

“Luckily for me, I got a heads up from a friend,” Hawaii Island resident Haawina said. “But I feel unfortunate for the people who didn’t get a heads up because it’s not posted on the Hawaiian Airlines website and there’s no emails letting us know. So there’s a lot of people missing their flights.”

According to a TSA spokesperson, the outage was initially reported sometime late Saturday.

Hawaiian Airlines reported six delayed flights as a result of the TSA screening malfunction. Delays were between six to 34 minutes, officials said.

A technician flew in from the mainland and eventually got it fixed around 11:35 a.m. Monday.

In the bigger picture, HDOT Director Ed Sniffen said they are working with TSA locally and federally to ensure they are prepared if this happens again. He said Hilo now has backup equipment on hand and they’re also wanting to address the need for local technicians.

While equipment failure is upsetting, TSA officials said they do their best to get things up and running as quickly as possible.

TSA also confirmed this outage was only for one of the baggage X-ray scanners, and the passenger screenings were not impacted.

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