Report on Bomb Scare Is Ordered

Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday ordered the Sheriff’s Department to prepare a report on the April 20 bomb scare at Burbank Airport that shut down one terminal for six hours, affecting at least 3,000 passengers.

In a unanimous vote, the supervisors also asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to review the airport’s process for notifying police and fire departments, as well as other agencies that respond to incidents at the county’s half-dozen commercial airports. The reports are due in 90 days.

A press deputy for Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, sponsor of the motion, said the measure was necessary to tighten up the process by which law enforcement is notified.

Airport and Burbank police officials said law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the sheriff’s bomb squad, were at the scene within half an hour and moved quickly to close the majority of one of the airport’s two terminals.

A Times review of the incident found it took the sheriff’s bomb squad, based in Whittier, an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at the scene when a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad was situated just nine miles away.

Airport authorities also evacuated and closed Terminal A, home to Southwest and America West gates. But throughout the evening, they allowed planes to taxi up to some of the terminal gates.

The first official word of trouble--an announcement of a security risk--was not relayed on the airport’s public address system until 8 p.m., more than four hours after the emergency began. The all-clear was not sounded until 10:15 p.m.

Burbank Airport spokesman Victor Gill said the incident has been under review since a chemical residue on a passenger’s laptop computer tripped an explosives detection alarm in Terminal A.

Because Burbank Airport is operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, the supervisors have no power to change how the airport responds to emergencies, Gill said. But they could order changes in how the Sheriff’s Department handles incidents at the airport.

Airport and law enforcement officials have defended their actions, saying they were dealing not only with a potential bomb, but also with a man who was too intoxicated to answer questions.

The man’s carry-on bag contained vials of liquid that could not be immediately identified, they said. Security officials tested the bag three times for explosive residue and all results were positive, although there was no sign of a bomb.

Gill said the airport has devised improvements to emergency plans.

“The airport AM 1700 radio station--which usually gives information about parking--is something we can use in a live situation like that,” Gill said.

In the April incident, emergency protocol required that the airport contact the Burbank Police Department, which in turn called for the sheriff’s bomb squad--stationed 31 miles away in Whittier--under a mutual aid agreement.