BOMB SCARE RESPONSE WAS 'TEXTBOOK' AIRPORT PROXIMITY EXAMINED.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

BURBANK - While defending their reaction to an April 20 bomb scare at Burbank Airport as a ``textbook operation,'' sheriff's officials said Thursday they will station a bomb-squad truck closer to the airport to respond faster to any future incidents.

``We have a bomb truck in the pipeline,'' said Capt. Jerry Barnes in the sheriff's arson-explosives detail, who said the department's two bomb trucks are located at the unit's headquarters in Whittier. ``When we get a third one, we'll locate it somewhere in the northern part of the county, and that will improve our response times to incidents in that area.''

The Sheriff's Department, in a report issued Thursday following a request from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said law enforcement agencies' much-criticized response to the airport incident was ``for the most part a textbook operation'' although the department is looking for ways to improve.

Flights were delayed and more than 3,000 passengers were temporarily stranded at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport on April 20 after security workers detained a man suspected of having a bomb in a laptop computer.

According to the report, Burbank Airport officials notified the FBI of a possible explosive device at 4:20 p.m. The sheriff's squad arrived at 5:45 p.m. The FBI arrived at 9:05 p.m. The airport returned to normal service at 10:30 p.m.

The first announcement informing travelers of the situation, came over the public address system nearly four hours after the explosive detection alarm was sounded.

According to the report, the bomb squad took more than an hour to arrive from Whittier because it was raining and it was a Friday evening, when freeways and streets are more congested.

Burbank Airport officials had no immediate reaction to the report.

The report said bomb squad technicians arrived at the airport and learned that a Pakistani man identified as Ravi Desai was detained because his carry-on baggage had registered positively for a high explosive when it was checked by the Federal Aviation Administration's bomb analysis device.

Desai was not charged with a crime, Burbank police said. He could not be reached for comment.

Sheriff's personnel interviewed Desai and found him to be reasonably cooperative but under the influence of alcohol and somewhat evasive about the contents of his luggage, Lt. Bill Dunn of the arson-explosives detail wrote in the report.

``Further, Mr. Desai was found to have some type of surgical implant in his abdomen,'' Dunn wrote. Based on the circumstances, the incident was treated as a possible ``weapons of mass destruction scenario.''

After the incident, members of the detail met with Burbank Airport authorities to investigate options that may be available in the future to minimize disruptions, Dunn wrote.

Also, the detail provided training on explosives handling and bomb threat assessment to Burbank Airport officials.