Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Dozens of flights and thousands of passengers were delayed before dawn Monday when a man breached security at McCarran International Airport.
Metro Police, Federal Aviation Administration officers and airport security guards tried unsuccessfully to find the man, who bypassed a security checkpoint at the A and B gates by walking through the exit side.
McCarran spokesman Adam Mayberry said 14 planes waiting to leave the gates were not allowed to do so, and ramps were pulled away from the planes with the passengers on board "so that no one else could get on."
Another 25 arriving flights were held on the ground at points away from the terminal, some for more than an hour, as authorities searched for the man.
Employees of the affected airlines -- America West, Continental, Northwest and American -- were directed to a secure area and remained there until security deemed the situation safe, Mayberry said.
"We do that so the suspect cannot get hold of an employee and access the aircraft," Mayberry said.
Mayberry said it was finally determined the man, who was captured on surveillance video entering the gate area, may have somehow left the terminal.
The incident began at 12:17 a.m. and the airport, the nation's 10th busiest, returned to normal operations at 1:30 a.m., Mayberry said.
"Once it was learned security had been breached, Metro responded and the Department of Aviation shut down the security checkpoints to keep anyone from entering the sterile area," Mayberry said.
All planes were checked in the search for the man, Mayberry said.
Mayberry said it was not unusual for someone to walk through the exit side of the security gates, rather than passing through metal detectors as all people entering the terminal area are required to do.
He said in such cases, the person is usually stopped by a security guard on duty at the checkpoint. He said it was not immediately known why a guard failed to stop the man.
"It's under investigation by our security staff why no one would apprehend the man," Mayberry said.
"What makes this scenario so unusual is that the suspect was never located. This is an extremely rare occurrence."
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