Wednesday, September 12, 2001

FAA orders planes to ground; security heightened at airports
By Chrissy Braden
Senior Reporter

Passengers were crowded around airline counters, using their luggage as chairs and pillows, while they waited at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after departing flights were halted as of 10:03 a.m. Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration closed all of the nation’s airports for the first time until at least 11 a.m. today after four planes were hijacked Tuesday. Two of the hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and another into The Pentagon in Washington.

Two of the planes belong to American Airlines, which is based in Fort Worth.

American Airlines officials declined to comment.

David Arnold, a Delta passenger from Jackson, Miss., flying to Las Vegas, said he knew airport security was diligent, but he still doesn’t understand how the hijacking took place.

“It worries me,” he said. “It seems like the FBI or some intelligence agency should have known.”

James Crites, executive vice president of operations of D/FW, said contingency plans for security and safety will remain in effect until further notice, even though there is no information about threats to D/FW.

“Due to the sensitive nature of these plans, I won’t discuss any of the specifics related to security and safety,” he said in a press conference Tuesday.

He said security teams will continue to sweep terminal areas, but gate and concession areas will remain closed indefinitely.

Anne O’Mara, a Delta passenger from Houston on her way to Salt Lake City, said she was notified during her flight that the plane would land at D/FW, the nearest airport, due to a national incident.

“We were all confused,” she said. “I got up and went to the bathroom in the back of the plane and found a flight attendant who told me what had happened.”

Airlines rescheduled flights and made hotel reservations for stranded passengers, like O’Mara.

David Dunai/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Delta ticket counter workers strive to reschedule those passengers delayed by the mass hault of air traffic.

Kevin Cox, senior executive vice president of D/FW, said passengers will be assisted as long as they need to be. He didn’t have an estimate of the total number of passengers the airport relocated.

In another effort to help, two regulated American Airlines planes departed D/FW Tuesday carrying only airline personnel to assist in the tragedy, according to ABC World News.

The airlines have also been contacted from numerous individuals interested in doing whatever they can to help those in need.

Carry Utter, a resident of Valley Ranch, waited by the Delta counter to offer her home to stranded passengers.

“My husband said he knew what it was like to be stranded out-of-state and have all of the hotels fill up,” she said. “We knew we had to go to the airport and do something.”

D/FW had 150 planes on the ground Tuesday afternoon, Cox said. D/FW has about 2,300 flight operations each day and grosses about $11 million a year.

Crites said taxis and buses can continue to operate at the airport. Legally parked cars at the airport will not be ticketed, but no unattended vehicles can be parked at the terminal curbs.

Cox said airports will resume business when the FAA, airlines and the airport agree to reopen.

“We at D/FW are working closely with those partners and will be ready to go when they’re ready to fly,” he said.

Chrissy Braden
l.c.braden@student.tcu.edu