North Peace Regional Airport screening machine down

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John’s regional airport is urging passengers to take extra time as it deals with a technical issue.

According to a Facebook post on Tuesday, June 16th, North Peace Regional Airport passengers have been advised that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) baggage screening machine is out of service.

This means luggage will be manually searched and checked prior to passengers taking flights for the time being.

Stacy Smith, the facility’s managing director, confirmed the malfunctioning machinery to Energeticcity.ca, stating the machine went offline in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“This morning at around 4 a.m., it went down,” said Smith in a phone call. “We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it. We did try a reset on it, but it didn’t seem to fix the problem.”

Smith confirmed the machine was replaced in the airport last fall.

“It is actually one of the newer machines we have,” said Smith. “[Walkthrough] may take a little bit longer. Passengers that are coming to the airport [need] to be sure that they take a little bit of extra time, [and to] come early if they can.”

With the lack of a local technician, Smith added that one will be flown up from the Lower Mainland on Wednesday, June 17th.

The advisory has been posted on the airport’s website, with passengers warned that their bags will be manually searched prior to boarding.

Smith estimates that the North Peace Regional Airport has between 175,000 and 200,000 passengers come through its gates each year.