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At all the airports in the Washington area and across US, flights were delayed for hours as officials implemented hastily devised new restrictions designed to ward off terror attacks after the terrorist bid to blow up an aircraft.
Investigators have indicated the plot centered on a plan to use liquid explosives, and many airports are now prohibiting passengers from carrying any liquids on board with them.
Shortly after British authorities announced the arrests of 21 people who allegedly were plotting to blow up jets flying from the United Kingdom to the United States, security officials here tightened searches of carry-on luggage and banned cosmetic lotions, beverages and other non-essential liquids from being brought on board.
Authorities say the plot involved mixing different kinds of seemingly harmless liquids into an explosive brew on transcontinental flights. Hence the carrying of all kinds of liquids has been banned.
''No liquids or gels. Shaving cream, shampoo, contact lens solution -- all of it has to be checked in'' passengers were repeatedly told.
US authorities raised the threat level to 'red' for flights from Britain, the first time the highest threat of terrorist attack had been invoked since the terror alert system was created. All other flights were under an "orange" alert -- one step below red.
Some travelers wondered if security hasn't gone overboard. The terror plot is causing delays on both sides of the Atlantic. Flights coming into San Francisco from the United Kingdom are delayed up to three hours.
At Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, airport employees handed time-stamped cards to passengers standing in long lines as to how long they'd have to wait.
At Reagan Washington National Airport, in Washington DC passengers who had not yet heard the news from London shouted their frustration with the new restrictions, and watched helplessly as their scheduled departure times slipped by.