"Massachusetts airport considering concrete barriers"

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Cape airport considering concrete barriers
The Cape Cod (MA) Times


Large concrete barriers at the Cape's primary airport may one day help slow
down and deter drivers who want to ram the terminal, as happened yesterday
in Scotland, according to the head of the Barnstable Airport

"One of the things that I'm considering doing is placing Jersey barriers on
each side of the drive so that a driver would need to slow down and weave
through them," Barnstable Airport Manager Quincy "Doc" Mosby said last
night.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security hasn't ordered any extra security,
Mosby said after spending the day at work, but he's looking at ways to slow
down approaching traffic. The only other way to stop such an attack is to
place concrete barriers in front of the entrance.

At the airport yesterday, there was nothing as obvious as security bollards
or barriers to keep a would-be terrorist from flooring the accelerator,
veering by red plastic traffic cones and two watching police officers and
crashing into Terminal 1's doors at the Hyannis airport.

The airport's entry drive passes a few feet from the two terminals, past the
usual security signs - "drop-offs only, no waiting, no parking, no
unattended vehicles" - that are common since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The
drivers of two cars, ignoring the signs, were waiting in front of Terminal 2
yesterday.

The airport is in the process of designing a new passenger terminal and
access, but any new building is years away.

There was even less of a barrier to stop a driver from jumping the curb and
smashing into the waiting room of the transportation center in Hyannis where
people can wait for buses and shuttles.

At the nearby ferry terminal, long lines of cars and trucks waiting for the
next ferry would stymie a driver trying to get up enough speed to crash into
the ferry or terminal. A state police car also had plugged the gap between
the cars and the terminal.

Other U.S. airports are increasing security patrols and some have used dump
trucks to block some access roads, Mosby said.

An attack such as the Scottish incident "is a tough thing to defend
against," Mosby said. "Probably 75 percent of U.S. airports have driveways
that run past the terminals. You hope you increase the vigilance enough to
act as a deterrent."

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