GROUNDED OFFICIALS AT LAX, BURBANK AIRPORTS EXPECT SECURITY TO CHANGE FOREVER.Burbank and Los Angeles International airports were shut down Tuesday and will remain closed indefinitely as federal and airline officials determine how to beef up security and try to guarantee the safety of the nation's travelers. Passenger terminals were evacuated, and police handlers with dogs swept baggage areas and parking lots as officials reacted to the hijacking hijacking Crime of seizing possession or control of a vehicle from another by force or threat of force. Although by the late 20th century hijacking most frequently involved the seizure of an airplane and its forcible diversion to destinations chosen by the air pirates, when of four commercial jetliners - three bound for Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - that were then used to destroy the World Trade Center in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and to cripple the Pentagon. ``We are all shocked at the tragedy that happened. LAX will remain closed until directed to reopen by the FAA,'' said Lydia Kennard, director of Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA is the airport oversight and operations department for the city of Los Angeles, California. This department owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Van , which operates LAX. Officials predicted that more stringent security procedures will be put in place before airports are allowed to reopen. ``I would venture to say that airport security as we know it today will change forever,'' said one airport official who asked not to be identified. Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. said he is ready to deploy hundreds to deputies to the city-owned airport, where there are 2,200 flights and more than 175,000 passengers during an average day. ``We need to harden the target,'' he said. Bernard Wilson, chief of the Airport Police, said plans that include a number of options already are in place for resuming operation, but the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control will make the decision of how and when the airports will reopen. LAX officials said late Tuesday they won't be able to reopen the airport until the FAA gives the OK. They said that the airport could be back in operation this morning, if ordered to do so, but that they doubted it would reopen that soon. ``Anything is possible,'' said Michael DiGirolamo, deputy executive director of Los Angeles World Airports. ``I am very confident we will be ready to go with the airlines when the FAA gives us that go-ahead.'' Thousands of passengers were stranded at LAX and at the airport in Burbank, jointly operated by Glendale and Pasadena. The Salvation Army stepped in, helping arrange reservations and transportation to nearby hotels for those unable to make connecting flights. About 60 stranded travelers received shelter from the Red Cross. Some grounded travelers opted to travel by Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run train or Greyhound bus to their destinations. ``We're just trying to get home,'' said Jeff Bishop, 30, a computer programmer who lives in New Jersey. ``I'm not a very confident flier in general, especially when things like this happen. I have an uncle who works - worked - in the twin towers. I haven't heard from him.'' He and his wife, Shannon, 26, bought tickets on an eastbound Greyhound bus after their flight home to the Atlantic Coast was canceled. Bert and Rhonda Green were in Los Angeles catching a connecting American Airlines flight home to Jackson, Miss., when they were told by the crew that the flight had been canceled. Only after they got off the plane did the Greens hear about the terrorist attack. ``We're going to have to start thinking militarily in a different manner,'' Bert Green said. ``We're going to have to really start putting a lot of our resources into counterterrorism coun·ter·ter·ror adj. Intended to prevent or counteract terrorism: counterterror measures; counterterror weapons. n. Action or strategy intended to counteract or suppress terrorism. .'' Kathryn Cross, who had a layover lay·o·ver n. A short stop or break in a journey, usually imposed by scheduling requirements. Noun 1. layover - a brief stay in the course of a journey; "they made a stopover to visit their friends" stopover, stop in Los Angeles as she flew from Seattle to Baltimore, said she was frightened but also concerned about the terrorists' victims. ``I keep thinking of all those people in the World Trade buildings. It puts life in perspective." Down in the baggage-claim area, FBI agents and other law-enforcement officials were examining the countless unattended bags, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. anything suspicious. Nancy Quinn of Ojai had arrived at the Burbank Airport at 6:30 a.m. to catch an America West flight to New York, where her father was scheduled to undergo heart surgery. Her flight, like all others, was canceled. ``I just feel like I'm in total shock. It's devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. . I don't feel I have a grasp of it yet,'' she said. In downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or , the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was honoring Metrolink rail passes to get people who normally take the trains onto buses and out of the congested con·gest·ed adj. Affected with or characterized by congestion. congested ENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. downtown area. And an extra Metrolink train was added to bring Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley residents home from downtown Los Angeles, where many offices were closed in fear of a local attack. ``Everybody (at work) was kind of in a state of shock, I think,'' said Chris Gannon of Palmdale, who works at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. ``You know a lot of people who hadn't seen it on the news were finding it hard to believe. But there was definitely a lot of worry about L.A. targets.'' Staff Writers Helen Gao, Greg Botonis, Brent Hopkins and Amy Raisin contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Roy Hamilton of Chatsworth, top, contemplates the horror of TV film he saw on terrorist attacks in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. as he sits Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport, where his flight to Buffalo, N.Y., was canceled. Above, FBI agents walk down an otherwise empty lane for arriving travelers. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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