A Delta flight to Bermuda was cancelled yesterday when a man ran past airport security forces at about noon at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta.

Flight 354 was one of 147 flights cancelled as National Guard troopers scoured the airport.

The Associated Press reported that commuter trains and buses were not allowed to enter the airport, stranding thousands of people.

A Delta spokesperson told The Royal Gazette that flights would resume once security forces secured the airport.

Lines of people in the lots began moving slowly after 3 p.m. and flights began taking off again after 4 p.m.

Flight schedules are not expected to be back to normal until Saturday.

DL354 was supposed to leave at 11.45 a.m. and arrive in Bermuda at 3.29 p.m. before the security breach forced Delta to shut down.

Police said the suspect was not captured and may have escaped in the crowds of thousands of passengers and airport employees who were forced into parking lots outside the terminal, AP News reported.

The man, who was wearing jogging shorts and a T-shirt, ran past guards at a security checkpoint then fled down an up-escalator, said Benjamin DeCosta, the airport's general manager.

The man was not carrying a visible weapon.

International flights were allowed to land and passengers were held in the concourse but all other air traffic was halted.

Mr. DeCosta said from 5,000 to 10,000 passengers and employees were evacuated with many standing outside in the two twin parking lots around the terminal and others inside the main baggage area.

After the entire airport was searched, all passengers had to go through even tighter security.

"If you want me to fly, you've got to stop this kind of nonsense," said Jerry Presley of Kansas City, who had been in Atlanta on business.

"They should have stopped this guy.

"There should have been someone to catch this guy."

The checkpoint was staffed by police, two members of the National Guard and one security guard for International Total Services, which handles security at Hartsfield.