LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS STATEMENT ON TERMINAL 3 RESPONSE AND RECOVERY EFFORTS

(Los Angeles, November 5, 2013)  The multitude of complexities involved in the initial response to an active shooting scenario at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the world’s busiest airports, involves the coordination of multiple local, state, federal agencies and first responders.  While the main objective for Airport Police and other public safety responders was to immediately neutralize the threat, protect lives and provide life saving measures for the injured, it was also critical that potential secondary threats be ruled out.

The safety and security of passengers, employees and others was the first priority.  Before being able to allow people back into the Central Terminal Area (CTA) and the terminals, it was necessary to have law enforcement clear, and declare safe, every LAX terminal and every parking structure. 

 While time consuming, it allowed Airport Operations to begin to take the necessary steps to manage the needs of the thousands of people evacuated from terminals, sheltering in place in terminals, and on planes that continued to land at LAX.  From the start of the incident around 9:30 a.m. through midnight on November 1, an estimated total 1,550 scheduled flights with an estimated 167,050 passengers were impacted. 

There were many logistical and operational challenges, but airport employees created and executed plans for the recovery of flight operations, CTA and terminal repopulation.  In just over 24 hours, the entire airport was fully operational, including Terminal 3, the scene of the tragic shooting.

 Over the next several months, Los Angeles World Airports will put the response and security efforts under a microscope to identify what went right and where we can improve.  While no amount of training can prepare airport employees and first responders for every situation during an emergency, the incident in Terminal 3, like every incident that disrupts airport operations, provides us an opportunity for lessons learned.