A bad day at JWA

Young Chang and Jennifer K Mahal

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- A plane with two blown tires and a woman who

walked past security Saturday equaled around three hours worth of flight

delays at John Wayne Airport.

The incidents caused 52 inbound flights and 51 outbound flights to be

delayed, said Ann McCarley, airport spokeswoman. Three flights were

canceled and nine flights were diverted to other airports before being

allowed to fly back to John Wayne.

The delays started Saturday morning when a Delta flight from Salt Lake

City blew two tires upon landing on the airport’s main runway. There were

no injuries among the 63 passengers. However, officials at John Wayne had

to close the runway for two hours while maintenance crews changed the

tire before towing the aircraft.

The runway, the only one that can handle commercial aircraft, reopened

at about 11:30 a.m., McCarley said.

The cause of the blown tires is under investigation, said Kip Smith,

manager of corporate communications for Delta.

Less than an hour later, at 12:20 p.m., a woman walked up the stairs

from the unsecured baggage claim area and managed to walk into the

secured terminal without going through security, McCarley said.

“The stairs from the baggage, you can come up, but you come up by the

security screening area,” she said. “Most people just turn back around

and go out. This individual got past security.”

Globe Security, which is under contract at the airport, noticed the

breach and tried, along with Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies,

to find the woman without success, McCarley said.

The terminal was evacuated of both passengers and employees while

Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies and the airport’s Operations

Division searched the terminal for anything suspicious.

Arriving flights were not allowed to deplane while the search was

going on. While the security teams did not find the woman, they also did

not find anything suspicious, McCarley said, and the terminal was

reopened at 1:20 p.m.

McCarley said it is not believed at this time that the woman breached

security with any “malicious intent.”

“I think the person may have been in a hurry,” she said.

Security measures at John Wayne Airport have been beefed up since

Sept. 11. Travelers are now routinely expected to submit to trunk

inspections outside the parking lots, hand searches of carry-on bags and

face tougher restrictions on what can be brought on a plane.

-- Young Chang writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268

or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

-- Jennifer Mahal is features editor of the Daily Pilot. She may be

reached at (9490 574-4282 or by e-mail at o7

[email protected]