Missing pair of scissors delays 26 flights at Okinawa's main airport

More than 20 flights were delayed or cancelled at Okinawa's Naha Airport on Oct. 13 after a security checkpoint shut for about two hours over a cleaner's missing scissors.

The checkpoint, one of three at the domestic terminal, was closed from 6 a.m., mainly affecting passengers of Japan Airlines and its group carriers, Kyodo News reported. Officials feared the scissors had been left in the restricted zone beyond it, according to the transport ministry's Naha Airport office.

The cleaning contractor had been working in that zone, where dangerous items are prohibited, and the scissors were part of the cleaning kit it normally carried, Japanese broadcaster TBS reported. They later turned up at the contractor's office, and screening resumed at 7:53 a.m. once safety had been confirmed.

By 4 p.m., 26 flights had been delayed and two Ryukyu Air Commuter flights cancelled, the Japanese newspaper Daily Sports reported. Some delays ran past two hours, partly because of other factors, the newspaper said.

Ryukyu Broadcasting Corporation, a local broadcaster, said in a follow-up report that the scare stemmed from inadequate checks by security staff.

Aerial view of Naha Airport. Photo courtesy of Good Luck Trip

Similar incidents were reported in Japan earlier, including at the same airport.

In August 2024, scissors that went missing from a shop past security at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido led to 36 flight cancellations and 201 delays, CNN reported.

In March 2023, a utility knife found in an All Nippon Airways lounge past security at Naha forced all three checkpoints to close for about 90 minutes, affecting 50 flights and more than 10,000 passengers, Ryukyu Shimpo reported.