Bomb Threats Prompt Closures of California Airports...Long Beach and Orange County

[FN FAL]

I wouldn't want to be that guy/gal, when they get caught...

Threats Prompt Closures of Calif. Airports

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Airports in Long Beach and Orange County were shut down Tuesday morning because of bomb threats, officials said.

The Long Beach threat was made in a telephone call placed to the facility around 3 a.m., said airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson. The threat to John Wayne Airport in Orange County also came in a telephone call, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration.

He said he did not know if flights had been affected but added that the airport was operating normally.

At Long Beach, all early flights at were canceled, said Nancy Pratt, a spokeswoman for the city's police department. Planes typically begin arriving and departing from the airport after 7 a.m., she said.

Police were searching all areas of the airport with bomb-sniffing dogs, Pratt said.

Officials expect substantial delays once the facility reopens because security workers will have to screen a large volume of travelers at once, Diggs-Jackson said.

Authorities hope to complete their investigation and begin allowing people into the airport around 7 a.m., she said.

The airport serves commercial carriers including Jet Blue, American, America West and Alaska.

 

[schoolio]

Wow...I flew into LGB this morning and heard nothing about it...interesting.

 

[FN FAL]

Cookie monster says...

A terminal at San Diego International Airport was evacuated Tuesday after luggage screeners mistook a child's toy and a cookie for bomb-making components, officials said.

A screening machine detected what appeared to be bomb-making material in a carryon bag, said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Jennifer Peppin.

A bomb squad was called to the terminal, which serves regional flights, and investigators determined the bag did not contain any "IED," or improvised explosive devices, Peppin said.

"Essentially what they did find was a child's toy and some organic material in a bag that turned out to be a cookie," Peppin said. "Those two items combined on-screen, they very much appeared to be an IED, and it turned out not to be."

The terminal was reopened within 1½ hours, Melendez said. Five commuter flights to Los Angeles and one flight to Salt Lake City were delayed, said Steve Shultz, an airport spokesman.

The discovery followed bomb threats called in earlier Tuesday to airports in Long Beach and Orange County. The calls triggered massive searches of both facilities but no explosive devices were found.

 

[boeingaaa]

This is getting rediculious, granted, it did happen at 3am, and the only area that was really effected was the terminal, but come on, we need to find out who's making these calls, and make sure they know it's no joke. It the past 3 days, 4 airports in LA have had bomb threats, along with several other buildings including my local supermarket. I say, 10-99 years imprisonment, with no medical benefits, no good food, and a harsh life sounds like a good plan for these people. BTW, I was at the LGB terminal at 11am today because I was taking some people on a flight, everything appeared normal, except there were a few more local police driving around on the tarmac for "security"

 

[JediNein]

You think it's only been 4 airports in Socal? Some idiot threatened my home airport last week. Other than really pissing off the owners, someone blowing up a bunch of Cessna 172s just doesn't affects folks, once the media figures out the Cessna 172 is not an airliner carrying hundreds of innocent people and no one will step up to the mike to claim they heard the engine 'sputtering'.

 

[boeingaaa]

You think it's only been 4 airports in Socal?

You're completely right, what I meant to say was that there were 4 publicised bomb threats in commercial airports in the LA area. In reality, yesterday (tuesday), they had a bomb threat at Santa Ana , John Wayne, Long Beach, and Los Angeles International Airport. I'm not sure how many bomb threats occur in smaller GA airports, but as you can see, 4 bomb threats in 4 major LA airports in 1 day is sadly becoming common the norm.:erm: Oh, and they also had the cookie threat in San Diego! I tell you TSA and the government are taking this post 9-11 stuff too seriously yet ironicly they aren't making the airports any safer.