The State - News from Aug. 8, 1988

Hundreds of passengers were evacuated for two hours from the United Airlines area of San Francisco International Airport because of a security foul-up involving a 3-year-old’s toy gun. Airport police said a United security guard saw an image of a gun in a bag passing through an X-ray machine and for reasons under investigation allowed the bag’s owner to walk away. The guard told a supervisor and airport police were summoned. Because the owner had disappeared, the terminal area was evacuated and searched for weapons. When all passengers were required to go through the X-ray machines again, the toy was found in the child’s carry-on bag. An airport spokesman said the failure in the security process was under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.