"Ontario, Calif., Airport Allows Short-Term Parking Again"

Monday, May 27, 2002

Ontario, Calif., Airport Allows Short-Term Parking Again
The Business Press, Ontario, Calif.


Although the head of Ontario International Airport's police force is
"not thoroughly convinced" that security is as good as it could be, he's
confident the reopening of short-term parking near the main terminal
poses no undue risk to passengers.

Los Angeles World Airports, the city of Los Angeles agency that owns and
operates the airport, continues to assess all aspects of security, said
Chief John Bangs of Ontario International Airport Police Services.

The airport's hourly Lots 2 and 4 were closed Sept. 11 under a federal
mandate prohibiting parking within 300 feet of an airline terminal.
ONT's lots reopened May 20 after the airport applied for a waiver to the
rule.

The architectural design of the $270 million terminals that opened in
1998 enabled the short-term lots to reopen. The closest parking rows are
within 150 feet of the terminal.

The new U.S. Transportation Security Administration reviewed a study of
the airport's security conducted by an East Coast consulting firm
working with various American airports. The study concluded that
"because of the terminal's design and stringent seismic standards, the
terminals would not be subjected to catastrophic failure in the event of
an explosion," Bangs said in a release.

The consulting firm studied the blast patterns of various explosives,
including

TNT, the C-4 plastique-type explosives favored by international
terrorists and the homemade ammonium nitrate-fuel oil explosive used in
Oklahoma City, Bangs said.

"Even at 300 feet, we would lose the glass,"the chief said. An explosion
as far away as 300 feet would knock out the terminal's glass but the
structure would remain standing.

Tempered or heat-treated glass in the Ontario terminal would absorb some
of the blast before shattering.

The glass breaks into small pieces about a quarter-inch squared, without
blade-like shards of broken glass.

The arched terminal ceiling "would roll the blast right back out," and
vent the force out the sides, he said.

Allowing parking of a car bomb closer to the terminal made no difference
in worst-case scenarios studied.

Anthony J. Lumsden, the Los Angeles architect who designed the Ontario
terminal, agreed that the glass would absorb some of the shock from a
possible attack, but the deflective role of the ceiling is a happy
accident.

"Some of the forces [of an explosion] would be returned, but it wasn't a
basis for the design concept," which focused on the pleasing use of
natural light, Lumsden said.

"Symbolically, the curved lobby ceilings crossed by skylight trusses,
recall the character of early aircraftS" said the airport's 1998 press
release proclaiming the terminal's opening.

The seismic stability of the twin 265,000-square-foot buildings is the
result of careful engineering and a modular design that employed
strength- enhancing repetitive structures, he said. Supporting columns
are exceptionally well insulated.

As a result, the architect believes the Ontario terminal "is probably
one of the strongest buildings in the state."

Airport officials are reviewing parking among several other aspects of
security, including passenger lines, screening processes and perimeter
fencing.

"As any security expert would tell you, you can't stop everything,"
Bangs said. However, airport terminal and traffic pattern design gives
the airport some security advantages, he added. Curbside parking remains
tightly restricted and closely monitored.

"There's nothing to prevent someone pulling up to the curb, but ... no
one is [allowed to dwell] there," Bangs said.

Parking fees at the reopened lots are intended to encourage short stops
and minimize congestion in front of the terminals. Parking in Lots 2 and
4 will cost $1 for each 30-minute period and has a two-hour limit.
Vehicles left longer will be charged a $24 overtime fee and may be
subject to citation or towing.


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