Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: LAX shooting - SoCal transportation chaos

This is topic LAX shooting - SoCal transportation chaos in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-01-2013, 03:49 PM:

Am staying clear of politics and therefore not mentioning the incident itself, but it has caused absolute mayhem for both air and ground transportation in the immediate region. A lot of flights have been diverted to the four airports around the edge of the city (Long Beach, Orange County, Burbank and Ontario). I live under one of the approach paths to Ontario, which is normally a little-used airport, but the noise of diverted inbounds has been constant, all morning. It's being reported that the 405 and 10 freeways near LAX have both been closed, causing serious delays on many nearby roads and gridlock on some.

While I was writing the above paragraph, it was reported on local radio that a "national ground stop" has been placed on LAX-bound flights, meaning that all scheduled flights bound for LAX are not being allowed to leave their origin airport. Airlines are allowing rebookings for everyone without charge, even those with non-flex and restricted tickets.

The consensus seems to be that if you're trying to travel to the LA metro by air, or anywhere near any of its airports on land, cancel or postpone your trip if at all possible.

Obviously, my first thoughts are with the victims and their families, but I do hope that the airport and road closures this incident have caused can be lifted quickly. It's going to be a very difficult weekend for LA and the surrounding region if not.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 11-01-2013, 03:59 PM:

The University of Hawaii's football team is stranded at the L.A airport unable to continue to Utah for Saturday's U.H/Utah State game tomorrow afternoon. The Hawaii team is on a two week road trip with the game in Utah and another one scheduled for next weekend in Maryland against Navy.

-Claude

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 11-01-2013, 04:09 PM:

A good friend of mine flew down there this morning on business & is stuck in the chaos.
I'm up in San Francisco listening to live coverage streaming from KFI radio online.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-01-2013, 04:45 PM:

quote:
Am staying clear of politics and therefore not mentioning the incident itself,

The incident has nothing to do with politics, so I'll put in a bit of text describing what happened. This is from the aforementioned KFI Radio's website:

quote:
UPDATE - A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that 23-year-old suspect Paul Ciancia is from New Jersey and was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs." The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that the suspect in the Los Angeles airport shooting is a 23-year-old man from New Jersey who wrote a rant about killing Transportation Safety Administration workers.

A law enforcement official, who was briefed at LAX on the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly, said the gunman was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs." The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The official identified him as Paul Ciancia. A second law enforcement official confirmed the identity, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Authorities say the suspect killed a TSA employee in the shooting.

The lessons we can learn here are: (1) There are idiots with guns just about everywhere, and (2) You can never trust anybody to keep their mouth shut.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-01-2013, 05:44 PM:

Sorry - should have been clearer. Given that, as you say, the guy reportedly had an anti-government agenda, I feared that discussing the incident itself risked turning political.

It's hard to know what they could have done to prevent this. The landside/airside security check of a big hub airport is probably about the most heavily secured public place in existence already.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-01-2013, 07:28 PM:

What is the reason for closing so much stuff off? Did they not catch the guy? If so, why are highways closed? I can understand them closing maybe a part of the airport but closing everything down just gives the shooter what they want... far-reaching chaos. The only excuse I can see is if they're still searching for the guy.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-02-2013, 11:08 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
What is the reason for closing so much stuff off?

The only halfway sane explanation/speculation I heard was that initially, the police had no way of being sure that there was only one gunman, acting alone; and that if, in their rush to reopen the airport, they'd allowed his accomplice(s) leave the scene unhindered, that would not have been good.

Apparently there was minor disruption still going on this morning, but things are now essentially back to normal. I guess that one day of major disruption isn't that bad, given that this was a fatal incident: and even so, us Brits are the last people who have any right to complain, given that about three snowflakes is all it takes to close Heathrow for a week!