Kansas City International Airport evacuated its terminal Sunday after a call reported a possible device in the building and parking garage, halting operations for about two hours and drawing an FBI response before officials reopened the airport and said the threat was not credible.
The disruption stranded arriving flights on the taxiway, pushed roughly 2,000 travelers out of the terminal and blocked access to part of the airport for hours. By Sunday afternoon, airport officials said the terminal was back open, but the parking garage stayed closed longer while bomb investigators checked a vehicle flagged by K-9 units. By Sunday night, authorities still had not identified who made the threat, described the source of the call in detail or announced any arrest or criminal charge tied to the case.
Authorities publicly described the timeline in slightly different ways. The Associated Press, citing airport spokesperson Jackson Overstreet, reported the threat surfaced around 11:15 a.m. Local station KSHB said the Kansas City Aviation Department was made aware around 11:50 a.m. In either case, the response moved quickly. Airport police, the FBI and other officers began clearing the terminal, and inbound flights that had already landed were held on the taxiway away from the gates. Overstreet said the shutdown lasted about two hours, and the terminal reopened shortly after 2 p.m. Passenger Logan Hawley, 29, said he was waiting to board a flight to Texas when he saw police and K-9 teams moving through the building. “Suddenly there was an airport worker saying, ‘Immediately evacuate,’” Hawley said. “People got up fast and rushed out of there.”
The reported threat involved a possible device in both the terminal and the parking garage, according to aviation department statements carried by local outlets. Ryan O’Neill, a passenger interviewed by KMBC, said the order to leave came without an explanation at first. He said the announcement told everyone to evacuate immediately, and only later did travelers piece together that planes had been kept away from the building while officers searched inside. Hawley estimated that about 2,000 people were led onto the tarmac. Local television footage showed passengers standing outside with luggage while police and dogs swept the area. Even after the terminal reopened, officials did not say who made the report, what exact wording was used or whether investigators believed the call was a hoax, a bomb threat or another kind of false alarm. By Sunday evening, the public explanation remained narrow: the threat had been investigated, the terminal had been swept and no credible danger had been found.
The disruption spread far beyond the terminal doors. KSHB reported that Southwest diverted four flights headed to Kansas City, routing them to Denver, St. Louis and Wichita until gates reopened. Missouri transportation officials temporarily closed the Interstate 29 northbound to Interstate 435 eastbound ramp serving the airport, adding to the traffic backup around the property. Some travelers told local television reporters they waited as long as three hours to get back to their vehicles once the garage shut down. Sunday’s scare also came little more than two months after another evacuation at KCI on Dec. 31, 2025, when travelers were cleared from an unsecured area during a separate investigation that also ended with authorities finding no credible threat. This time, though, the incident centered on the active terminal and adjacent garage, making the shutdown more disruptive for passengers who were already checked in, waiting at gates or sitting on planes after landing.
The investigation continued after the terminal reopened because one part of the search still had to be finished. The aviation department said a vehicle on the top floor of the parking garage was marked as suspicious during a K-9 sweep, prompting the Kansas City Police Department’s Bomb and Arson Unit to examine it. That vehicle was later cleared, and the garage reopened around 6 p.m., according to local reporting. FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that the threat had been reviewed and deemed not credible, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said normal operations were resuming. Patel also said threats against public facilities are federal crimes, an indication that investigators intended to keep working the case even after passengers were allowed back inside. As of Sunday night, however, no arrest, criminal charge or court filing had been publicly announced, and authorities had not provided a timeline for the next update or said whether they had traced the original call.
For travelers, the day unfolded with little information and a lot of waiting. Video shared by local stations showed long lines of passengers standing on pavement with rolling bags while aircraft sat away from the terminal. Some people remained inside planes on the taxiway. Others were kept outside while officers moved through the building and garage. One woman interviewed by KSHB said she had to call an Uber because she could not reach the terminal to drop off a passenger. Another traveler told local reporters he appreciated that officers kept searching until they could give an all clear. The aviation department later said anyone who notices suspicious or concerning activity should report it to law enforcement. By the end of the day, the immediate fear had given way to delays, rebookings and the slower work of an investigation that produced no explosive device but left officials trying to determine who set off a major security response at one of the region’s busiest public facilities.
By late Sunday, the terminal and parking garage were back open, flights were moving again and officials were treating the case as an investigation into the threat itself, not an active danger at the airport. The next public milestone is likely any identification of the caller or an announcement of charges.
Author note: Last updated March 8, 2026.