ROMULUS, Mich. – Travelers described the panic at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after a man drove through the Evans Terminal on Friday morning.
Airport officials released an updated statement Friday (May 29) evening, saying the man drove onto the sidewalk through gaps in the concrete barriers around the airport entrances.
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Police said the driver, a 67-year-old man, was unarmed and appeared disoriented, telling officers he was “there to meet Tom Cruise and save his dad.”
By Friday evening, crews were putting up new barriers around airport entrances as travelers walked past the boarded-up doorway in disbelief and frustration that it was the second time a car had driven into the airport in just four months.
“We were in Seattle waiting to board, and I got the text that came in that said a car drove into Evans Terminal,” Rebecca Ortiz said.
“Wild, I’m shocked, I can’t believe this is apparently this is the second time this has happened in the last year,” said Arlis Jones.
Alexandra Fettig, who was flying from Chicago to Detroit to visit family, said she landed minutes after the crash and quickly realized something was wrong.
“I remember we landed at 9:30ish, got off at 9:37, and within like two minutes or so, I just hear the fire alarm going off,” Fettig said.
She said the baggage claim was sectioned off, and crowds formed as people were not being allowed in or out of the terminal. Fettig said she was stuck inside for about an hour before security allowed people to leave.
“They kind of just said there’s been a security incident, everything is on pause,” Fettig said. “People were concerned about, ‘I need to get my bag, I’m going to miss my flight,’ and they said everything is nothing is being processed right now.”
Airport officials said they are still working on a permanent barrier solution following both crashes.
“Things that we still have to reevaluate is our system and how fast can we get a system in which will be a permanent fix to what we have,” said Senior Vice President of Emergency & Support Services Tadarial Sturdivant.
For some travelers, the back-to-back incidents have shaken their sense of safety.
“It’s kind of scary because it feels like now with public settings like you really, it just doesn’t feel as safe anymore,” Fettig said. “For this to have happened only in January and then again be happening now just feels very, very close together.”
“As we stated during our media briefing, this morning’s incident at the Evans Terminal remains an ongoing investigation. Upon further review of the surveillance video, it was ascertained that the vehicle did not enter through the ADA-accessible area as originally believed.
Rather than entering through the ADA-accessible curb cut area, the vehicle was driven over the curb, in a gap between the barriers protecting the doorways.
The original plan following January’s incident was a temporary solution designed to protect against a 90-degree turn into the terminal doorways, as opposed to what occurred today.
The Airport Authority is currently in the design phase of a permanent barricade system and will be using these additional lessons learned during that process.
For the time being, we are once again adding additional barricades to fortify the sidewalks and the entryways into the terminals.”
The Wayne County Airport Authority