Easy Takeoff for Airport Security Plan

John Wayne Airport officials said there were few disruptions or flight delays Friday as a result of heightened security measures ordered by President Clinton in response to the crash of a TWA airliner in New York last week.

Most passengers heeded warnings to arrive early to allow for increased baggage checks. Airport officials heard little grumbling, said John Wayne spokeswoman Kathleen Campini-Chambers, although at least two people missed their flight because they arrived at the gate too late for a new baggage search at the security screening area near the entrance to the departure lounge.

Campini-Chambers and other airport and airline officials declined to discuss the new security measures in detail. The more stringent precautions were ordered after a Trans World Airlines 747 exploded and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, N.Y., killing all 230 aboard. Although the cause of the explosion has not been determined, a bomb is increasingly being seen as the most likely explanation.

The strictest measures apply to international flights. International passengers can no longer check bags at the curb. John Wayne only handles domestic flights.

Skycap Darryl McCall said some passengers reacted with surprise upon learning that their bags could still be collected at the curb.

“But we still have to look at their photo IDs and tickets,” McCall said, referring to a policy in place before Clinton’s directive. “The tickets have to match the IDs and the name tags on their bags.”

The most noticeable changes involved Orange County sheriff’s deputies, who provide security at the airport, more aggressively enforcing curbside parking and a private security company searching carry-on bags.

A deputy brusquely ordered a man who parked his car by the white curb to drive away or risk getting a ticket. “They’re [deputies] not cutting any slack,” said a man standing nearby.

Security personnel at the two checkpoints leading into the departure lounge were busy doing random checks of carry-on luggage. Before Clinton’s directive, carry-on items on domestic flights were normally scanned by X-ray machines and rarely opened for inspection.

On Friday, most passengers took the new inspections in stride, and some were quick to grasp the significance of the tightened security.

“I think that we joined the international community today. We’re no longer immune to what the Europeans have endured for many years,” said Pat Booth, who watched as her backpack was inspected and the contents removed. “The inconvenience is minor but the benefits are great.”

Laverne Martinson, who was putting her 12-year-old grandson aboard a flight to San Jose, also approved of the measures.

“When my grandson was purchasing his ticket, they questioned him about his luggage; who packed it and if it had been in his possession the entire time,” said Martinson, a Lake Forest resident. “I’m glad they asked him, because normally they’d ask the parent or grandparent.”

But Martinson also expressed concern about the effectiveness of the new security guidelines. After walking through the metal detector, she pulled a sheriff’s deputy aside and informed him that the machine failed to detect the six metal screws that were surgically implanted in her knees for medical reasons.

“Not even a beep. And they’re not small screws either. They’re three inches long each. Three in each knee,” Martinson said. “At San Jose Airport, they trigger every alarm. That’s why I carry a medical card that shows I’ve got metal screws in my artificial knees. The machine at Kennedy Airport didn’t detect them either when I flew out of there a few weeks ago.”