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LAX officials outline improvements to emergency plans

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Los Angeles Airport Police Department Officer Fritz Corros stands in silence as an honor guard at the makeshift memorial to fallen TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Transportation Security Administration employees observe a moment of silence on Friday at 9:20 a.m., the same time of last Friday’s shooting that left TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez dead.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Airport police Officer Fritz Corros stands in silence as an honor guard at the makeshift memorial to fallen TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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TSA employees embrace after observing a moment of silence at LAX.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Airport workers embrace in Terminal 3 after a memorial service for a slain TSA officer.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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A shoulder patch is among the items at the makeshift memorial for slain TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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LAX Airport Police officer Tom Dye passes the U.S. Honor Flag to TSA honor guard Brandy Richards as it arrives at LAX in memory of TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez on Wednesday. The Honor Flag will be used at Hernandez’s upcoming funeral services.  (Brad Graverson / Getty Images)
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Honor guards escort a U.S. National Honor Flag from an airline jet in a ceremony to memorialize TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez, who was fatally shot at LAX.  (David McNew / Getty Images)
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The U.S. Honor Flag is carried during a procession through Terminal 4 at LAX in memory of TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez.   (Brad Graverson / Getty Images)
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A motorcade, consisting of members of the L.A. Police Department, L.A. Fire Department, and honor guards with the Transportation Security Administration, carries a U.S. National Honor Flag in memory of TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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A TSA officer wipes her eyes as an honor guard escorts a U.S. National Honor Flag in a ceremony to memorialize TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez, who was fatally shot at LAX.  (David McNew / Getty Images)
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TSA agents Blandina Beltran,left, and Wessane Legesse, right, comfort each other at a candlelight vigil for their co-worker slain TSA agent Gerardo I. Hernandez at Dockweiler State Beach on November 4, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Beltran and Legesse both work in Terminal 3 at LAX.   (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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TSA shooting victim Tony Grigsby is consoled by his mother, Faye Maye, during a news conference Monday n Los Angeles.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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TSA shooting victim Tony Grigsby, escorted by his mother, Faye Maye, left, and grandmother Juanita Davis, walks slowly away from the media after a press conference Monday in Los Angeles.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers continue through the screening area in LAX Terminal Three on Monday morning.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Transportation Security Administration agents help travelers with baggage to check for screening at LAX Terminal Two on Monday morning after a deadly shooting Friday at Terminal Three caused mass delays and cancellations. A Transportation Security Administration agent was killed and several other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire in the Los Angeles International Airport terminal Friday morning.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Transportation Security Administration agents embrace in front of Terminal 3 at LAX on Monday. Three days after a fellow agent was killed and several others wounded.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Transportation Security Administration agents help travelers with their luggage. Suspect Paul Anthony Ciancia’s family family notified Los Angeles police Friday morning after receiving text messages from the 23-year-old that made them concerned about his well-being.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers and Transportation Security Administration walk past a memorial of flowers at LAX on Monday morning.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Flowers for slain TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez at LAX Terminal 3.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Airport Police Officer Dan Keehne and his canine partner keep an eye on passengers in Terminal 3.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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TSA officers are in very somber mood at the Terminal 3 check-in area.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Ana Hernandez, widow of slain TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez, makes a statement Saturday.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Airport police Officer Dan Keehne patrols Terminal 3 with his canine partner.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Travelers wait to check in as construction workers take down tarp that prevented people from looking at the crime scene.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles airport staff members attend to a passenger who was trying get in through a closed entrance at Terminal 3.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Airport police patrol with dogs in Terminal 3 a day after the shooting.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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TSA agents spend a quiet moment on a bridge that leads to Terminal 3.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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A TSA agent is absorbed in thought as he walks through Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport.  (Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)
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Law enforcement including the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department and LAX Airport Police gather in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport. A Transportation Security Administration agent was killed and several other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire at the airport. The attack caused widespread chaos, delaying flights and stranding thousands of passengers.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
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Liza Espiritu, right, rests on her luggage while joining hundreds of passengers who wait to get permission to try to make their flights. Espiritu and her husbvand, Eric, standing behind her, were traveling from Manila with a stop at LAX en route to Phoenix.  (Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)
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After hours of waiting, passengers are allowed to enter LAX. They were held at the entrance to the arrival section of LAX.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Travelers make their toward LAX on one of the main roads into the airport.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Joseph Heyward, 87, right, and his wife get help with their luggage and a ride from Los Angeles firefighters.   (Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers wait outside Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 1, 2013, after a Transportation Security Administration agent was shot and killed and three other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire in Terminal 3.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck talks with other responders at Los Angeles International Airport.  (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)
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The attack at LAX caused widespread chaos at the airport, with flights delayed and thousand of passengers left stranded on the streets in and around the airport.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Security presence outside Terminal 2 at LAX after a Transportation Security Administration agent was shot and several other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire in Terminal 3 Friday morning.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers wait outside Terminal 1 at LAX.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers and airline personnel exit LAX after a Transportation Security Administration agent was shot and killed.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Passengers wait for Terminal 1 to reopen after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
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A passenger trundles his bag behind him outside LAX, where thousands of people were evacuated after a gunman opened fire in Terminal 3.  (Michael Nelson / EPA)
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A police offer stretches crime scene tape across the road leading to Terminal 3 after Friday morning’s shooting.  (Michael Nelson / EPA)
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Police stand guard outside Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
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Passengers evacuated from LAX terminals walk with their luggage after a gunman opened fire inside Terminal 3.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
By Dan Weikel
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Los Angeles airport officials on Tuesday told a City Council committee that improvements in training, communications and emergency management are on the way in the aftermath of November’s deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport.

The measures include better communication and coordination between airport and public safety command centers as well as an expanded emergency notification system for airlines, LAX concessionaires, hotels and ground transportation companies.

Among the other improvements are a new wireless communications system to send emergency information to all cellphones at the airport, a special team of officials to help stranded travelers and more evacuation training for all workers at LAX.

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Airport Director Gina Marie Lindsey, airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon and two high-ranking emergency managers for Los Angeles World Airports appeared at a special meeting of the council’s Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee.

The hearing was requested by Councilman Mike Bonin, who was concerned about the chaotic evacuation of airport terminals Nov. 1, the day a gunman hunted for Transportation Security Administration officials in Terminal 3.

One TSA agent was killed and two more agents and a teacher were wounded before airport police shot and captured the suspect.

About 23,000 passengers were in the terminal that day, airport officials said. Many were concerned about a lack of information, limited access to food and water, improperly marked emergency exits and other difficulties evacuating.

Bonin, whose district includes LAX, said he was impressed by how fast LAX returned to normal flight operations and the quick response of police who stopped the gunman minutes after he entered the terminal.

But Bonin said the attack made it clear there were problems with communications, coordination and crowd management.

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“There will be a next time,” the councilman warned. “There will be another breach of security, a terrorist act or a natural disaster.”

Airport officials said they are updating the airports emergency response plan and will set up conveniently located food and water supplies at LAX for stranded passengers.

They also told the committee they are considering predetermined emergency access points to the airport to make sure public safety vehicles and support organizations, such as the Red Cross, can enter without delay.

Questions were raised again about the inefficiency of the 911 system at LAX that does not route callers directly to airport police. Depending on where someone is, 911 calls can go the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol or a South Bay dispatch center.

“This will take some work,” Gannon said.

Bonin requested that airport officials return in 90 days to report their progress with training, communications, joint drills between airport staff and public safety personnel and the purchase of a mobile command post.

He also wanted an update in 30 days detailing how well Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX, is implementing the recommendations of a special blue ribbon panel on security ordered by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Released in November 2011, the panel’s study concluded that LAX was safe, but still needed to improve emergency management, the security of its facilities and the airport police force.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

twitter: @LADeadline16

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Dan Weikel

Dan Weikel covered local aviation, the California high-speed rail project, Metrolink, the MTA and regional transportation issues for the Los Angeles Times before leaving in 2017. He started with the newsroom in 1989 and previously covered courts and transportation in Orange County, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as substance abuse, environmental issues and law enforcement as a member of a project team. A native of San Diego, Weikel is a graduate of the UC Santa Barbara and the master’s program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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