This aerial photo shows Kochi Ryoma Airport and the surrounding area in Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, on Nov. 21, 2019. (Mainichi)

       KOCHI -- The discovery that an airline passenger was carrying 6-centimeter blade forced all his fellow travelers set to board a flight departing Kochi Ryoma Airport here on July 28 to go through security checks a second time.

       According to the transport ministry's Kochi airport office, at around 3:15 p.m., a man in his 30s about to board a Jetstar Japan flight bound for Narita International Airport near Tokyo reported to an official after going through security that he was carrying a multifunctional knife with a 6-cm blade.

       The knife was confiscated, but Jetstar conducted another round of security checks on all 123 passengers, just to be safe. As a result, the flight was delayed for about two hours.

       Subsequent departures of Fuji Dream Airlines to Nagoya (20 passengers) and Japan Airlines to Tokyo's Haneda Airport (61 passengers) were also delayed by 30 to 40 minutes because those who had already completed the security inspection had to go through it again.

       According to the airport office, the inspections are run by a security company, and the screening machine was working properly. They will investigate the cause of the incident, as the knife could have been overlooked.

       (Japanese original by Satoshi Kobayashi, Kochi Bureau)

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