AA terminal at New York’s JFK opens as briefcase searched

American Airlines reopened the ticketing area and lower baggage claim of its terminal at New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport after a brief evacuation to investigate an unattended briefcase.

The terminal was reopened at 9 a.m. local time after the bag was searched and found to contain papers and other normal business materials, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which oversees the airport.

The owner of the bag has been identified and is on a flight bound for San Francisco, he said.

The unattended bag was found between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time today, prompting American to empty parts of the terminal and call in security authorities, said Ned Raynolds, a spokesman for the carrier. American’s parent company AMR Corp. (AMR) is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

JFK is the sixth-busiest airport in the U.S., with 46.5 million passengers last year, and is a hub for international flights for carriers including American and Delta Air Lines Inc.