KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The gunfire at LAX sent a ripple of worry across the nation. Even here in the metro, airline passengers are experiencing travel-related anxiety. Airports nationwide are dealing with heightened tensions and flight delays. It’s been an uncertain day of travel for passengers going toward Los Angeles and flying out of southern California, too.
KCI spokesman Joe McBride released a statement saying that airport security here will be keeping close watch after the incident across the county. McBride told FOX 4 News that only one flight has been canceled and everything else is running as scheduled.
We spoke with one anxious family who was experiencing the headlines firsthand. Scott Carlson had never been happier to see his family. Carlson was a passenger out of LAX on a flight that left at 9:05 a.m. He estimated that he missed the dramatic airport shooting by five minutes.
“We didn’t know anything about it before we took off,” Carlson said.
And he flew without knowing what had happened. The crew on his Delta flight didn’t inform passengers of what had happened.
“When I landed, I started getting texts from my kids, asking, ‘Are you OK?’” Carlson said.
While Scott flew, his father and brother-in-law were frantic. John Carlson and Vito Picicci figured they spent close to an hour checking the news and making calls, trying to determine if their loved one had boarded that airplane out west.
“With all the craziness that’s going on in this world, you think of the worst,” Picicci said.
“At first, they didn’t tell you what terminal, or who was affected, so we’re wondering what’s happening here,” John Carlson said.
Blue Springs native Daniel Morgan is en route to South America, but is connecting through LAXlater on Friday. He said he’s more than concerned about flying into an airport that saw violence this morning.
“It definitely makes you a little nervous. I don’t know the situation, but hopefully, everyone’s OK, and it all works out,” Morgan said.
One airport employee said that everyone on her staff breathed a big sigh of relief seeing passengers from Los Angeles walk down the KC jetways. If you want to know the status of your flight, visit KCI’s Web site.
