Official falls to death at US airport
Washington: An off-duty official fell to his death from a hotel balcony inside an airport in the US state of Florida, causing flight delays and sending confused travellers scattering past security checkpoints unscreened, the media reported.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer died after her from balcony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel onto an atrium floor in the main terminal of the Orlando International Airport on Saturday, reports CNN.
TSA spokeswoman Jenny Burke confirmed that the victim was an off-duty agency officer and said that he fell from one of the multilevel hotel’s balconies, which overlooks an area where people line up for one of the airport’s security checkpoints.
The man was found in critical condition and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced brought dead, the police said.
The TSA said that several passengers scattered past the security areas without screening.
All passengers at gates 70 to 129 had to be rescreened, the airport said.
On Saturday evening, the airport tweeted numerous flights had been cancelled.
As of Saturday night, 117 flights from the airport had been delayed and 45 were cancelled, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.
Dozens of flights coming into the airport also were delayed or cancelled.