Lindbergh Field boasts impressive recovery record

The first thing Gayle Irvine did when she arrived at San Diego International Airport from Vancouver, British Comumbia, was stop at the ATM machine to get some spending money. Waiting at the luggage carousel, Irvine heard her name over the airport’s public-address system, asking her to report to the lost-and-found area. There, upon showing sufficient identification, Irvine was reunited with her ATM card. “Some kind gentleman handed it in,” she said. “I didn’t even know I left it in the machine.” Irvine’s ATM card is just one of more than 13,200 items that were turned in to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s lost-and-found department in the last year. With 900,000 travelers expected on incoming flights at Lindbergh Field and 900,000 on outbound flights between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the lost-and-found bins have their annual holiday bulge. “We get a lot more jackets and sweaters during Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Bonnie Costello, the airport traffic officer who works at the lost-and-found. “They are things people don’t need so often here in San Diego,” she said. With an efficient tracking system and a staff dedicated to thoroughness, organization and customer service, it’s more common than not for travelers to be reunited with property they left in a terminal, even after months have gone by. The items are as regular and random as the human race. There are neck pillows and belts. There are shoes and socks. There are laptops and smart phones, iPads and books. Other items include car seats and toys, stuffed animals, sunglasses and hats, jackets. driver licenses, jewelry and watches, cameras, backpacks, crutches, canes, sleeping bags, military medals — even a barstool and a tube of lipstick. Two of the most common items filling the lost-and-found department’s bins, boxes and drawers are keys and belts. Costello opens a stack of drawers brimming with rows of belts rolled neatly in plastic bags and labeled. Cars keys — many with expensive automatic door openers — are expertly organized in plastic bags and hung on a pegboard. Keys that have gone unclaimed over the last year fill a cardboard box. The box is as heavy as a weightlifter’s kettle bell. A deck of flash cards for slang terms is among the unusual items found. “The cards had words like ‘sick’ and ‘hot mess’ and explained the meaning,” Costello said. “I guess they are for parents to understand their kids.” Canes are the least claimed item, she said. “People go from the plane to a wheelchair and then to a car,” Costello said. “They forget the cane is hanging on the back of the wheelchair.” In fact, because people think they won’t see their stuff again, many items continue to go unclaimed. After 90 days, those goods — like the 3-foot-tall stuffed dog that’s been around for months — are eventually auctioned off. The money from the auction goes to the airport’s general fund. “People call and say, ‘I know this is a lost cause,’” Costello said. “But that’s not necessarily true.” An expensive camera had been on the shelves for more than three months and could have been headed for auction. “I thought, ‘Somebody is looking for this,’” Costello said. “I went through the lost-property database and found a description for a similar item.” Costello called the contact and, with a little sleuth work, determined it was the person’s lost camera. The camera had three photos on it, one of a computer screen. Costello zoomed in and saw an icon for a diet file. The owner remembered having to go to the doctor for high blood pressure and having the diet file. He described the icon in detail, got his camera back and sent a letter of appreciation. Retrieving an item from the airport’s lost-and-found department requires the ability to provide a detailed description and identification. Travelers can pick the item up or give permission for someone else to pick it up. That person’s name must be on file with the lost-and-found department, and the person retrieving the item must show ID. Items can also be returned by Fed-Ex as well — at the owner’s expense. “If someone calls in, we ask as many questions as possible about the item,” Costello said, “like color, any scratches or dents, or size. We even have a sizer to measure rings turned in. We’re not going to just give someone a diamond ring if they said they lost one.” ABOUT THE AIRPORT’S LOST AND FOUND The Lindbergh Field lost-and-found department is located on the first floor of Terminal Two West at the San Diego International Airport. It is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., closed for lunch 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and again from 7 to 8 p.m. If you lose an item in a terminal at Lindbergh Field, you can call, email or fax the lost-and-found department. You can also report the missing item online at www.san.-org. Click on “passenger services,” then “lost & found.” The website also has a searchable database of items on its shelves. • Phone: (619) 400-2140 • Fax: (619) 400-2141 • Email: [email protected] • Web: www.san.org • Mailing address: San Diego International Airport Lost and Found Department 3835 N. Harbor Drive. Ste 1097 San Diego, CA 92101 The lost-and-found department does not take custody of items lost on board aircraft, in for-hire vehicles like taxis and shuttles, or from public buses or rental cars. For items lost onboard an aircraft, contact the airline.