Slew of minor inconveniences plagues airports in the region

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PORTLAND – Some air travelers missed their flights and others were delayed as passengers dumped coffee, bottled water, shampoo and other liquids in a security crackdown reminiscent of when airports reopened after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Officials sent more police and in some cases bomb-sniffing dogs to airports across northern New England, including the Portland International Jetport from which Sept. 11 mastermind Mohamed Atta departed nearly five years ago.

In New England, only Massachusetts responded to a foiled terror plot in England – and the resultant call for heightened security in the U.S. – by mobilizing its National Guard, however.

As of Thursday afternoon, no flights into Bangor International Airport were delayed or canceled as a result of the new security measures, according to Airport Director Rebecca Hupp.

“We obviously have been coordinating with the [federal] Transportation Security Administration, and local law enforcement,” Hupp said. “Other than that, it’s been normal.”

The Bangor Police Department assigned additional patrol officers to BIA and stepped up its security at the airport and other public transportation centers, Chief Don Winslow said Thursday.

“This just serves as a reminder that we’re still at significant risk of an attack,” he said.

Transportation Security Administration agents circulated through ticket lines to alert passengers to the new restrictions, though many travelers already were aware. Joseph and Fay Clukey of Hendersonville, N.C., knew to leave their bottled water behind, but Fay had to throw out some hand cream at the airport, the couple said.

“We probably put more things in our stored luggage,” Joseph Clukey said, adding that he wasn’t bothered by the heightened security measures. “In view of what’s happened at other airports, it’s going to have to be reasonable.”

In Portland, some departures were delayed, and a few passengers missed their flights because of long lines at security checkpoints Thursday morning, said Jeff Monroe, Portland’s director of transportation. There were no major disruptions, however.

Jess Crosby of Greene was carrying maple syrup and blueberry jam as gifts, but wasn’t allowed to bring them on her flight. Instead, a family member brought the gifts back home and will mail them, she said.

Crosby understood the concern.

“I’d rather be safe, but it’s a hassle,” she said.

At Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, N.H., officials scrambled to inform passengers of the new restrictions, but there was still confusion.

Connie McLane, 60, thought she would be allowed to hang onto her makeup bag as she headed home to Tulsa, Okla., but she was told she would have to surrender most of its contents. She gave up lipstick, bottles of foundation and eye makeup.

“I don’t mind the security at all. If I’d known, I’d have put it in my checked baggage,” she said.

Security officers allowed her to keep the liquid inside her contact lens case.

Manchester airport officials provided padded envelopes and paid the postage to mail banned items to the homes of travelers who arrived Thursday morning before they learned of the new rules, said Brian O’Neill, assistant airport director.

“We feel after today there should be enough general information available,” he said.

In Vermont, Burlington International Airport officials cracked down on the sale of drinks in gate areas and moved trash bins to checkpoints so items discarded by departing passengers could be collected and screened for explosives.

“Nobody is being allowed to take liquids through the screening checkpoint,” said Brian Searles, airport director. “We’re not selling liquids in secure areas, which we usually do, from snack carts in the gate areas.”

At Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, “more police presence” was the order of the day, airport Manager Jeff Northgraves said Thursday. “Just increased vigilance.”

When the airport received notice from the Transportation Security Administration that the threat level was raised to orange, the airport also received specific security directives, Northgraves said.

“Currently, flights to and from Knox County have not been delayed,” he said, “and we don’t expect them to be. We’re throwing out a lot of shampoo and bottled water,” he said.

The Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton, which handles about five commercial flights in and out each day, also increased security measures Thursday.

Early in the day, the airport closed a portion of its parking lot because it is within 300 feet of the terminal building, and also began conducting random searches of vehicles approaching the terminal, according to airport Manager Bob Cossette.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and the Maine State Police had increased patrols of the airport during the day and assisted in random vehicle searches, Cossette said. By late afternoon, however, Cossette was able to relax those restrictions.

“We can now reopen our parking lot and we no longer have to do random inspections of vehicles coming into the terminal area,” he said.

“We may find that there will 30-40 minute delays,” he said.

The terror threat also was blamed Thursday for affecting a stem cell research symposium planned for today and Saturday on Mount Desert Island.

Dr. James Battey, director of National Institutes of Health’s stem cell initiative and of National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders, had been expected to be tonight’s speaker at the symposium, being held at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor.

Jeri Bowers, spokeswoman for the lab, said Battey had to cancel because of a no-fly order imposed on federal officials in the wake of the threat and police raids on suspected terrorists. Another stem cell expert was found to speak at the symposium in Battey’s place, she said.

Some early fliers in Portland were unaware of the new rules, but word spread quickly as people watched the news on TV monitors. All took the changes in stride.

“I’m fine with it as long as it will keep us all safe,” said Lois Seward, who was flying home to Napanee, Ind., after a vacation at Belgrade Lakes.

The Portland airport was a footnote to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The plot’s mastermind, Mohamed Atta, and accomplice Abdulaziz Alomari drove a rental car from Boston the day before to stay at a hotel in South Portland before launching the deadly operation.

From Portland, the two men caught a commuter flight back to Boston, where they hopped a jet they would later crash into the World Trade Center.

Bangor Daily News reporters Jackie Farwell, Bill Trotter, Rich Hewitt, and Leanne Robicheau, as well as Associated Press writers Anne Saunders and John Curran contributed to this report.