OPERATIONS RETURNING TO NORMAL AT LAX FOLLOWING TWO INCIDENTS

(Los Angeles, California, September 4, 2004) -- Los Angeles International Airport returned to normal Saturday after two unrelated incidents resulted in four of the nine passenger terminals being closed and vehicle traffic restricted for about three hours. Neither incident was terrorism-related.

The first incident occurred at 7:22 a.m. PDT when a passenger apparently bypassed security at United Airlines’ Terminal 8 by running up a stairway from the lower level baggage claim area to the departure level. This breach resulted in the need to evacuate Terminals 6, 7 and 8, which are connected to allow for a security sweep of the terminals and re-screening of passengers. The person was not located

The second incident occurred at 8:06 a.m. when a plastic flashlight exploded as the contents of a passenger’s check luggage were being examined by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employee at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Two TSA employees were slightly injured and several other people complained of ringing ears from the sound of the explosion. The Tokyo-bound passenger cooperated with authorities and was not arrested. Officials believe the flashlight’s batteries had released a gas in the sealed plastic container which led to the small explosion.

The combination of the two events caused law enforcement officials to order closure of the Central Terminal Area roadway system at 8:22 a.m. The roadways were reopened to vehicle traffic about three hours later. Flight operations continued for arriving flights; departing flights were at the airlines’ discretion depending on the ability of passengers to reach the boarding gates. Terminals 1 through 5 were not impacted except as related to the CTA roadway closure.

LAX was in the second day of the four-day Labor Day holiday period during which 785,000 passengers were expected to arrive and depart. Saturday morning was the lightest travel period of the four-day holiday period.