KCI Airport evacuated as precaution due to potential bomb threat

Robert A. Cronkleton, Dominick Williams and Ben Wheeler, The Kansas City Star on Mar 8, 2026

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Parts of the terminal at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) were evacuated Sunday afternoon as a precaution after the airport received a bomb threat, officials with the Kansas City Aviation Department said.

Airport police were working with members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to substantiate any potential threat, officials said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The airport received the threat shortly before 11:15 a.m., said Jackson Overstreet, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department.

The FBI was aware of the threat and was working with local law enforcement, city and airport officials to determine its credibility, said Dixon Land, a spokesman for the FBI’s Kansas City offices.

Police have blocked off the flyover ramp from Interstate 29 that take travelers to the terminal on Northwest Cookingham Drive.

Chris Henry of Port Orchard, Washington, said she was headed to the airport to catch a 2:49 p.m. flight to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). They got onto Cookingham Drive to head to the terminal about 12:30 p.m. when they saw a sign saying, “Crash ahead.” Traffic was moving slowly.

They then saw a lot of police cars, far more than what Henry thought would be normal for a police crash. They were diverted and could not access the terminal. Henry said they made it to Paris Street and found a parking lot near the Hertz car rental, where cars were lined up, with the engines off.

At about 1:45 p.m., she said traffic was starting to move again and headed to the terminal.

This is the second time in recent months that MCI has been evacuated due to a threat.

On Dec. 31, the airport was closed for more than an hour after airport and law enforcement officials became aware of a potential threat in an unsecured area of the airport terminal. That threat was determined not credible and flight operations resumed.

Further information was not immediately available.

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