ROMULUS, Mich. – Officials with the Wayne County Airport Authority spoke for the first time following the horrifying moment when a car smashed through the glass in Detroit Metro Airport’s McNamara Terminal on the night of Jan. 23.
“A very unusual event that happened that could have caused horrific damage and injury, but did not,” Tadarial Sturdivant, the airport’s Senior Vice President of Emergency Support Services, said on Thursday (Feb. 5).
The shocking moment was caught on surveillance footage – that you saw first on Local 4, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request – where a Mercedes-Benz starts in the far left lane outside the terminal, then makes a hard right turn and smashes through the glass doors at full speed, right into the terminal.
It sent travelers, Delta Air Lines employees, and TSA staff scrambling.
The car eventually barrels into a Delta check-in counter and nearly hits a TSA agent.
“Our Airport Response Center received notification that a vehicle had driven through the terminal,” Sturdivant said. “Within 27 seconds, our first police officer was on scene, handling and addressing the incident.”
“The subject exited the vehicle and immediately appeared to be incoherent, stating his particular name and talking,” Sturdivant said. “Not things a regular person would say but gibberish.”
The driver still has not been identified because he is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation and repeatedly refused to say if he is currently in police custody.
The Airport Authority says they are also awaiting toxicology results from the Michigan State Police before any charges are filed. But police quickly ruled out any ties to terrorism.
“This is still an active investigation, and I don’t want to get into the intent,” Sturdivant said. “But as a result of us, working with our federal partners, of statements that we obtained from the driver, as well as making contact with family members, there was insufficient evidence to link this to any type of terrorism.”
The incident, which saw six people injured but no fatalities, immediately called into question the safety measures that were in place to protect the airport.
The car smashed through one of the metal bollards in front of the doors, which Sturdivant said was clearly inadequate.
“Our CEO, Chad Newton, called me and said an incident like this cannot happen again,” Sturdivant said. “We immediately launched a review of all of our safety systems from the top to the bottom.”
One of the immediate changes was the addition of the Jersey Barriers, the massive yellow concrete blocks outside of the terminals, which were put in place as a temporary measure on Tuesday.
The Jersey Barriers each weigh an estimated 9,000 pounds and are similar to the barriers used in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a number of European cities that have experienced major vehicular attacks.
The crash showed that the steel bollards were not nearly enough.
Any structural changes to the terminals would need to be approved by the airport’s engineers due to the way the terminals are built.
“We’re still working with our engineers and our architects to determine weight loads and what can be placed there,” Sturdivant said. “Some of you might have seen some of these large concrete flowerpots that are filled with concrete. That is one of the things that’s under consideration.
“Those also have a heavy weight load, so we’re making sure that we don’t solve one problem and create another,” Sturdivant added.
Traffic at the airport was business as usual on Thursday, with people picking up and dropping off. Sturdivant said the process will take time – and there is no timetable for when the permanent enhancements will arrive – but he noted it hasn’t had a negative effect on travelers.
“What I’ve heard and what I’ve seen is that passengers and employees are extremely happy that we acted as fast as we did,” Sturdivant said. “I don’t have a timeline as of yet, but we’re working diligently to make sure that it’s done as soon as possible.”