Hoax call at Calgary airport leads to temporary evacuation

Things are returning to normal after a "hoax" call of an active shooter at the Calgary Airport caused confusion and an evacuation Friday evening, police confirm to CBC News.

Passengers were allowed to return inside the building minutes after airport officials made an announcement over the public intercom system stating there was an "active shooter," multiple witnesses said.

A traveller on her way to Regina says it was a scary situation.

"I sat down in my seat and a few minutes later the flight's captain comes on the intercom to inform us there were reports of an active shooter," Taylor Pledger told CBC News.

"They locked the doors and shut down the airport, evacuated the terminal and outside. After 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there waiting to hear, the captain comes on again saying it was a false alarm. They still aren't sure if someone called in a fake threat or what happened but all flights in the domestic terminal are delayed at this time."

Jody Moseley of the Calgary Airport Authority says staff did what they could to best manage the incident.

"We put in place our protocol to make sure that our staff and our passengers were notified so that they could put themselves in a safe place," Moseley said.

"The staff really stepped up and did an amazing job making sure the passengers were safe and then making sure they were safe as well."

But some on social media didn't see it the same way.

"It would have been really nice to have had some real communication from the airport. They announced an active shooter in the terminal, which by definition means someone actively engaged in a shooting," Keith Stein commented.

"This incident was truly terrifying and showed very much that the airport staff have or recognize very little training for this type of incident."