Posted on 11/18/2005 11:56:49 PM PST by rdb3
Bomb threat shuts down Love Field
Passengers scrambled after a bomb threat paralyzed Dallas Love Field for three hours on a busy Friday night.
Witnesses said chaos ensued after a man at a departure gate began screaming, "Bomb in the bag! Bomb in the bag!"
The man took off all his clothes and started running, as hundreds of horrified travelers followed suit.
The terminal was evacuated around 6:30 p.m. as security teams began searching for the man.
Departing passengers and all incoming traffic were turned away while the airport grounds were secured. Stranded travelers frantically phoned friends and relatives to offer assurances of safety.
The unnamed suspect was apprehended and taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital for observation. Police said the man told them that God had told him to put a bomb in a bag and take it to the airport.
Bomb-sniffing dogs examined the suspect's luggage and gave no indication of explosives inside. The Dallas bomb squad, taking no chances, removed the bag to an isolated area and detonated it.
Southwest Airlines, the primary tenant at Love Field, was trying to get its schedule back to normal after the airport resumed operations about 9:40 p.m. The airline said anyone with questions about flights or loved ones can call 800-I-FLY-SWA.
E-mail mrazzuk@wfaa.com
Number 54 out of 382 Primary Airports in the country based on passenger boardings in 2004. (That puts it right behind Columbus, OH.) just under 3 million boardings, with a 5% growth over last year.
Since you mentioned DFW, they are almost exactly 10 times bigger, ranked number 4 in the US.
The largest NY airport is all the way down in 8th place.
Grab some fun stats here:
http://www.faa.gov/arp/planning/stats/#cy03data
Thanks for the stats on Love Field. I had no idea it had that much traffic. I like it because it's closer to Dallas and because it's not as busy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
