An unattended bag containing an unidentified substance turned up near the Alaska Airlines area of Terminal 2 at San Diego International Airport on Saturday, prompting officers to call in a hazmat team and the bomb squad while they worked to figure out what was inside. Flights and ticketing continued as normal even as the response played out, though the incident did cause some traffic impacts outside the terminal.
According to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News, Harbor Police responded to reports of a suspicious device at the airport, and responding officers determined the item was an unattended bag with an unidentified substance inside. The Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department serves as the primary law enforcement agency for the airport, with a force of 142 sworn officers trained for airport security, land patrol, and marine firefighting, according to Mark43.
Harbor Police confirmed airport operations were not affected by the response, and the station's report notes flights and ticketing continued as normal despite the added security presence. The bag was found in the area of Alaska Airlines in Terminal 2.
Why Bomb Squads Get Called for a Forgotten Bag
The response wasn't limited to Harbor Police. San Diego Fire-Rescue's Hazardous Incident Response Team provides specialized HAZMAT response to the airport by contract. Firehouse Magazine describes a joint effort with the county's Department of Environmental Health and notes the city's hazmat units have handled hazardous materials calls at the airport since 1982.
That kind of multi-agency response isn't arbitrary. The procedures call for EOD response in specified known or suspected explosion circumstances and separately address unknown-substance packages, including isolation and hazmat response, according to the SOP Center. Separate guidance addresses secondary devices. That framework helps explain why police called in additional resources to identify the substance and ensure it posed no threat even as the rest of the terminal kept functioning.
A Terminal Built for Volume, Not Downtime
The incident unfolded inside one of the busiest corners of an airport that's currently breaking records. San Diego International Airport handled a record 25.32 million passengers in 2025, and Simple Flying reported this month that SAN is now the world's fastest-growing major airport, with a 13 percent year-over-year jump in flight volume driven largely by aggressive expansion from Southwest and Alaska Airlines. That growth has been especially visible in Terminal 2, where Alaska added six new nonstop domestic destinations over the past two years, according to Patch. Alaska Airlines has also announced plans to build a passenger lounge at San Diego International Airport.
The airport also offers Lost & Found services for travelers who misplace belongings, as outlined by the San Diego International Airport.
Saturday's scare also lands amid a stretch of high-profile disruptions at SAN. Just over a month earlier, an unauthorized drone and weather balloon spotted near the airport forced the FAA to order a two-hour ground stop that delayed more than 400 flights over Labor Day weekend, a disruption Hoodline previously reported led TSA law enforcement to open a formal investigation into the airspace intrusion. Emergency response across the bay and airport is coordinated through the Joint Harbor Operations Center, an interagency command established in 2002 that links Harbor Police dispatchers with the Coast Guard, Navy, and Customs and Border Protection.
The bag incident also arrives as San Diego's airport undergoes a sweeping overhaul. Phase 1 of the multi-billion-dollar New Terminal 1 rebuild opened in late 2025, shifting several airlines out of Terminal 2. Phase 1B is set to add gates by 2028. Terminal 2 handled 15.64 million passengers in 2025.
Authorities have not released additional details about what the substance turned out to be or whether further action will be necessary. FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News described the story as developing Saturday and said readers should check back for updates.
