Reuters

Airport defends powder scare procedures
Management of Adelaide Airport has defended its handling of yesterday's powder scare that caused chaos at the international terminal, despite the complaints of angry passengers.

Yellow powder on luggage forced the quarantine of about 400 travellers, while 80 people were decontaminated in warm showers.

Passengers travelling from Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand faced long delays as authorities struggled to identify the mystery powder.

Many passengers waiting in quarantine say they felt they were not being kept properly informed.

"We can understand that they had to do it but we just wish that we'd been told a little bit more about what was going on," one passenger said.

A computer glitch that delayed test results only added to frustrations but the tests eventually showed the substance was harmless.

Airport spokesman John McArdle is satisfied with the operation.

"From my point of view, the procedures worked well," he said.

Debriefing

But Mr McArdle says airport and emergency services personnel will attend a debriefing.

"It's just a matter of getting some advice from people who know about the psychology of people in anxiety and whether or not we need to review the procedure we have," he said.

There are also plans to review the airport's announcement system.

"We'll be looking at the tapes, or listening to the tapes that were made," Mr McArdle said.

"What we'll do is have a look and see whether they need to be turned up, whether they need to be made more often.

"But from where I was standing, the procedures worked and we'll just review those."

Tests to identify the harmless powder could take up to a week.

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Update: 80 decontaminated due to powder in luggage Reuters
Published: June 25, 2006
ADELAIDE, Australia Eighty people were given decontamination showers and hundreds of others were quarantined for hours Sunday after a suspicious powder was found on luggage aboard a flight from Singapore, an official said.  Passengers and crew aboard the Singapore Airlines flight to this southern Australian city were kept at the airport while the authorities tried to identify the powder found in a passenger's luggage as it emerged onto the baggage carousel, said a spokesman for the Metropolitan Fire Service, Richard Gray.  People arriving on three other flights were also held by the authorities in case they had been exposed to contaminating material, Gray said.  In total, about 400 people were held for about five hours before being allowed to leave, he said. Eighty people who came into contact with the substance took warm showers as a precaution, he said.  "No one has been sick at all; nobody's been treated by the ambulance service," Gray said.  He said that further testing would be carried out on the powder to determine what it was, but that initial tests indicated it was not dangerous. (AP)   ____________________________________________________________________________________  

25 Jun 2006

Adelaide airport is in chaos, after yellow powder was found on bags on a luggage carousel.

Up to 400 people have been quarantined, some since early this morning when the powder was noticed.

Adelaide airport's public relations manager John McArdle, says some passengers came in contact with the powder when they picked up their luggage from the carousel, then inadvertently transferred the powder onto other passengers.

He says passengers on all incoming international flights are being put into quarantine. 

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Airport powder scare sees hundreds quarantined
Adelaide airport is in chaos this afternoon because of a yellow powder found on bags on the international luggage carousel.

Up to 400 people have been quarantined in the airport's international terminal.

The powder was noticed on luggage that had been carried on a Singapore Airlines flight, which arrived just after 7.30am ACST.

Emergency crews are struggling to identify the powder because remote equipment is failing to work from inside the terminal.

Adelaide Airport's public relations manager John McArdle says some of the passengers managed to get to a taxi and leave the airport before authorities could quarantine them.

"I understand that some of them got into a taxi and authorities are trying to track them down."

Mr McArdle says passengers on all incoming international flights are being put into quarantine.

"Incoming international aircraft and being unloaded and people are being placed into a secure lounge ... and they will be processed as soon as the product is identified as being safe," he said.

Mr McArdle says some passengers came in contact with the powder when they picked up their luggage from the carousel, he says they then inadvertently transferred the powder onto other passengers.

Mr McArdle says there were 200 people on the initial flight and another 150 have since arrived on other flights.

"This is a real incident and this is the first of the major incidents that we've had," he said.

"We're more than happy with how the process is handled. My feeling would be that the delay would escalate through the day."

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You know what the yellow powder is?

BBC says its TURMERIC!!!!