"Security Breach Slows John Wayne Airport"

Monday, July 24, 2006

Security Breach Slows O.C. Airport
A woman gets through unscreened, so hundreds of passengers are recalled.
The Associated Press


John Wayne Airport terminals were evacuated Sunday evening and passengers
were herded off airplanes after a passenger passed a security checkpoint
without being screened, authorities said. 

Hundreds of travelers, including those who had already boarded, had to
undergo a second security check, said Nico Melendez, spokesman for the
Transportation Security Administration. 

Six outgoing flights were delayed as passengers were rescreened and
reboarded, Melendez said. Authorities did not provide details about the
woman who slipped past security or how she managed to do so. 

An alarm sounded shortly after 5:30 p.m. and Orange County sheriff's
deputies and airport security began evacuating the terminals. Lines snaked
out the doors as travelers lined up again in front of checkpoints. 

Passengers erupted in cheers when the checkpoints reopened for screening at
7:20 p.m., said sheriff's Lt. Hayward Miller. 

Robin Lavengood, 43, of Mission Viejo had just walked in the door of the
airport when the evacuation began and said to himself, "Something bad is
going on here."

He had a 7 p.m. flight to Portland. "I don't think it's gonna happen now,"
he said, eyeing the throng.


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