"Parts of St. Louis Airport Evacuated"

Saturday, October 5, 2002

Report of knife-like object delays Lambert flights for hours
BY KEN LEISER AND SARAH TROTTO
The St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch


Three minutes. 

That's how long it took for federal security screeners at Lambert Field
to confirm that a garment bag containing a prohibited cutting tool got
past them Friday without its owner being stopped. 

Authorities described the object as a Leatherman-brand cutting tool - a
multipurpose tool that includes a 3-inch knife blade. 

Because of the passenger's head start, the federal Transportation
Security Administration and airport police evacuated hundreds of
passengers from the East Terminal and the adjoining D Concourse. 

An estimated 45 to 60 flights were delayed - some for two to three hours
- while police and federal security officials searched the airport for a
bag containing the cutting tool. 

"They did everything according to the book, but we probably should have
done it maybe a little bit more efficient," said Bill Switzer, federal
security director at the airport. "If we would have probably had another
15 seconds, it would have made all the difference in the world." 

Switzer said the screener, who had just been certified last week,
spotted the suspicious object on a screen and called a supervisor over
to verify. By the time screeners analyzed the X-ray image of the bag,
the passenger had picked it up and entered the Southwest Airlines gate
area within the East Terminal. It is not known if the passenger was male
or female. 

"It took about three minutes or so to get right down to what the object
was," Switzer said. "So the individual had three minutes start on us.
That is why we closed down Concourse D and E." 

The discovery was made about 11:50 a.m. The evacuation lasted about 90
minutes before security lines began to reopen about 1:10 p.m.
Authorities said it would have been possible to walk from the East
Terminal to the D Concourse gates in three minutes. That's why the D
gates were closed down. 

The B and C concourses were temporarily affected - but for only 20
minutes following the discovery - before planes were allowed to come and
go, an American Airlines spokeswoman said. 

Lambert Field Director Leonard Griggs said Friday's delays were costly
and disruptive, but insisted airport security worked as designed. 

Switzer said about two dozen American Airlines flights and 21 Southwest
flights were affected. But officials from the two airlines said closer
to 60 planes were delayed. 

Once the evacuation was under way, passengers were ushered from the D
gates toward the East Terminal and then outside, said Lambert Field
Police Chief Paul Mason. 

By 6:30 p.m., the cutting tool had not been reported found. Switzer said
earlier in the day that he did not believe it had gotten on board a
plane. 

Switzer defended the screener's actions. Passenger screening duties at
the airport recently switched from private contractors to federal
workers. "The way it was packed, it was difficult to analyze," Switzer
said. 

Some travelers expressed frustration. John Simms waited 30 minutes on a
12:15 p.m. Southwest flight to Chicago before the plane was evacuated.
Simms, of Downers Grove, Ill., said Lambert could have been more
efficient. 

"They could have hand-screeners scanning people in the crowd here,"
Simms said while waiting outside the East Terminal. "They're
inefficient. They should fire the guy who let the passenger go through
with a weapon." 

Planes arriving at the airport were temporarily barred from pulling up
to the terminal gates. Passengers on some planes were told there had
been a security problem. 

Switzer said his agency was mindful of the inconvenience to passengers
but that he is prepared to close parts of the airport again if security
is breached. 

"We are going to just review everything that took place to see if we can
maybe eliminate a minute or two," he said. "But we are not going to
sacrifice security to try to get people through in a moment's notice." 

Attached Photo:

Carla Gehner, an Administrative Coordinator for Southwest Airlines
directs passengers to back up and prepare for rescreening after the East
Terminal, at Lambert Field.

gehner.jpg