Police swarmed a major American airport after a mysterious loaded magazine was found on board a flight.
Authorities at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport responded to reports of the magazine near Frontier Airlines Gate C-6 in Concourse C just after 4.30pm on Saturday.
According to the Atlanta Police Department (APD), a passenger found what seemed to be a loaded magazine containing 10 hollow point rounds near seat 7A on the Airbus A320 aircraft which was set to depart to Cincinnati.
Mysteriously, the magazine was marked with the initials “KH”.
A large emergency response followed – with airport officers, the TSA, DOA, Frontier Airlines, Homeland Security and Atlanta Police K-9 units all involved.
The plane was evacuated and a thorough search of the aircraft took place, however no other items of concern were found.
According to officials, the flight eventually departed at 8pm after all passengers were screened for a second time.
The APD said the FBI was notified of the incident.
The TSA was one of a multitude of agencies which descended on the plane
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The agency said: “No active threats were indicated at this time.”
Frontier Airlines told Fox News: “Customers were asked to deplane while a security sweep of the aircraft was conducted, along with additional passenger screening prior to the flight’s departure.
“A subsequent investigation confirmed that the ammunition belonged to a law enforcement officer who was on an earlier flight on the same aircraft.
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Frontier Airlines said the gun belonged to a law enforcement officer on board
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“The ammunition and magazine were taken into the custody of the Atlanta Police Department, and the property owner was referred to Atlanta PD to retrieve his items.”
However, the APD said investigators had not yet confirmed who the owner of the magazine was.
Passenger Terry Foster said: “I’ve heard of a lot of delays, cancelled flights, but I’ve never heard of this before. This is brand new.”
Another flyer, Janyia Davis said that although she did not feel anyone was in immediate danger, “something bad could still happen”.
Law enforcement in the US are allowed to fly armed as long as they meet all federal qualifications, or have been granted special authorisation by the TSA.
GB News has contacted Frontier Airlines, Atlanta Police Department and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for more information.
