<p>A bomb threat that closed the Martha’s Vineyard Airport for some three and a half hours Tuesday morning remains under investigation by police.
A bomb threat that closed the Martha’s Vineyard Airport for some three and a half hours Tuesday morning remains under investigation by police.
The airport was cleared to reopen just after 9:30 Tuesday morning, following an intense sweep of the area by local and state police and a bomb-sniffing dog that was flown in by helicopter.
Bomb-sniffing dog was flown in by helicopter.
Bomb-sniffing dog was flown in by helicopter.
The threat was made by telephone at 6:06 a.m., West Tisbury police said later in an official statement. Airport officials said the call lasted a few seconds and was recorded.
Police were notified immediately; the airport was closed and its building evacuated. Massachusetts state police, along with West Tisbury and Edgartown police and fire departments all responded. The Salvation Army was also on the scene providing assistance.
A sweep of the premises was completed without incident, the statement from West Tisbury police said.
The airport was reopened at 9:40 a.m.
West Tisbury Sgt. Matt Gebo and Edgartown Sgt. Michael Snowden were among the first responders on the scene.
During the closure all outgoing flights were cancelled and all incoming flights were rerouted.
Traffic into the business park was allowed, but travelers arriving for outgoing flights were being turned away.
Police set up a command center near Vineyard Decorators. West Tisbury police chief Matt Mincone was the incident commander.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Comments
Are the businesses near the
Caryn WTAre the businesses near the airport closed too
Business traffic is being
editorBusiness traffic is being allowed into the airport after screening.
bomb dog was flown in? time
dan oak bluffsbomb dog was flown in? time to invest in bomb dogs on island for the airport and steamship.
Why? To have them sit around
T Bone Oak BluffsWhy? To have them sit around? The State Police had a helicopter. It flew the dog in from Plymouth. Good enough. Why replicate resources?
I agree ??bomb dog was flown
Islander EdgartownI agree ??bomb dog was flown in?? It is absolutely insane that with all the drug problems on MV for YEARS there is no drug sniffing dogs on any of the boats. The only security is a uniformed officer in the lounge texting on his cell phone!
About the the airport, you cant have a dog up there?
Where are our tax dollars going nobody obviously cares about stopping our drug problem or air security!!!
Island issues won't be solved
Kelce OBIsland issues won't be solved by a couple of dogs.
I believe that the detection
Nose Knows MVI believe that the detection dogs are specialists so that a drug dog would not necessarily be an explosives dog and vice versa. When lives are on the line I’d prefer to have an expert rather than a generalist. I think we could certainly use a robust pack of regular drug sniffers on this Island and expert explosive sniffers can be readily brought over when needed (which is, thankfully, rare)
A drug sniffing dog and a
OBRNA drug sniffing dog and a bomb sniffing dog are not the same.
It is my understanding that a
Lee Smith FalmouthIt is my understanding that a dog is either trained to detect explosives or narcotics not both. This was 1 time in how many years? Would be a waste of resources to have one on the Vineyard full time.
There is a history of K-9
in the know edgThere is a history of K-9 dogs in local departments on the Island. I cannot recall them ever performing anything of value. Its a waste of local resources to 'train' and 'maintain' a dog and giving an officer a dedicated vehicle for that purpose. The state police have a trained team that can adequately respond in a timely fashion as indicated here.
It is, likely, more cost
Dana Nunes VHIt is, likely, more cost efficient to import, rather than “train and maintain.” However, I remember the remarkable capabilities of the cadaver-sniffing dog used in the search for a missing local police officer many years ago. The result of it’s training was definitely something of value. And yes, they are specialists: bodies, drugs or explosives.
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