John Wayne Airport Shut Down Twice

Operations at John Wayne Airport were shut down twice Saturday--first when a tire on a Delta jet blew out during landing shortly after 9 a.m., then later when a woman ran past security officers and entered the terminal just after noon, an FAA official said.

Thousands of people waiting to board planes were evacuated from the terminal, and passengers on arriving flights were either stuck in the air or on the tarmac, said Ann McCarley, an airport spokeswoman.

The incidents halted flights and jammed air service for several hours during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year and added to delays created by a security breach earlier in the day at Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

At John Wayne Airport, two Delta flights were canceled. Other flights faced delays ranging from a few minutes to several hours.

Brett Jurick, 33, of Dallas was waiting to board an American Airlines flight home with his wife and two young children when the Delta blowout shut down the airport’s commercial runway. He said operations had no sooner resumed when the airport was shut down again at about 12:15 p.m.

“We were sitting across from the security counter and a guard came running past us saying, ‘Stop, stop! In the hat, in the hat!’ ” Jurick said.

“The National Guards came by with their guns and told everyone to just stay where we were,” he said.

The woman ran past security officers manning metal detectors and X-ray machines and entered the terminal area reserved for departing passengers already screened, said Les Dorr, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Washington.

People in the terminal were told to remain in place, and after an hour or so were herded into the baggage claim area downstairs where they remained for another hour and a half. During this time, armed National Guard troops and security personnel searched for the woman. She still had not been located late Saturday afternoon, McCarley said.

“We don’t believe there was malicious intent,” McCarley said. “But to be secure, we searched for anything suspicious and nothing turned up.”

Meanwhile, flights were forced to circle the airport before being cleared to land, while some others were redirected to Ontario or Los Angeles International airports, McCarley said.

Normal air traffic operations resumed at about 3 p.m., Dorr said.

The two incidents added to delays caused by a security breach at Seattle-Tacoma Airport after a National Guard member noticed that a security screening device was not working. Passengers on 28 flights to California, Arizona and Nevada were rescreened, said Jerry Johnston, an FAA spokesman in Los Angeles.

McCarley could not say how many flights were affected by the Orange County incidents.