L.A. Airport Shut Down

The Associated Press reports that Los Angeles International Airport was shut down early Saturday because of a possible security concerns:

Flights were not being allowed to depart, but inbound flights were being allowed to land, said Paul Turk, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Passengers were not taken off the planes.

Traffic was being diverted from the airport.

Fox News is broadcasting that there was an explosion at the airport.

Michele Catalano , at The Command Post posts ITV is also reporting an explosion.

Peter Goelz former NTSB Managing Director on the phone with Fox News moments ago said this does this not look like Terrorism. Goelz said a the shut down is the result of a postiive hit on an explosive detection device.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports that the Los Angeles International Airport shut down resulted from a passenger bypassing security at one terminal and a flashlight battery exploding during screening at another terminal:

The scare at the international terminal came when a flashlight battery in checked luggage exploded as the bag was being hand-searched by a Transportation Security Administration worker, said TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter. She said the blast appeared to have been caused by old batteries, not a bomb.

The TSA worker suffered swollen hands and was taken to a hospital, Von Walter said. Several other people complained of ringing in their ears and the passenger whose bag was being screened at the time was being questioned.

About half an hour earlier, security workers reported that a passenger bypassed security at United Airlines' Terminal 8 by running up a down escalator, Von Walter said. Authorities ordered the evacuation of terminals 6, 7 and 8, which are connected, in order to re-screen passengers.