From the Archives: September 11, 2001 Extra: America under attack

From The San Diego Union-Tribune Extra edition, Tuesday, September 11, 2001:

San Diego airport, office buildings closed - military bases on high alert

By James Steinberg, Staff Writer

All flights were grounded at Lindbergh Field this morning as the nation’s airline system was shut down in the wake of what appeared to be coordinated terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Security was heightened at government and military facilities around the county, and some downtown office buildings were evacuated.

San Diego police activated the department’s emergency operations center and took a number of measures within minutes of the multiple tragedies in the East, which occurred starting around 6 a.m. local time. The department also activated a plan to secure all key buildings in the city, which it did not specify, Police Department spokesman Dave Cohen said.

Police dispatched units to Lindbergh Field to assist Harbor Police with gridlocked traffic and to local military installations to assist with traffic control.

Police Chief David Bejarano was scheduled to hold a closed-door briefing for the mayor, City Council and other officials at 9:30 a.m.

San Diego’s border crossings with Mexico remained open, but security was increased to Level 1, the highest, and U.S. Customs Service spokesman Kevin Ball.

Local military bases were under armed guard this morning, and all vehicles, including those with base privileges, were stopped and all occupants had their identification checked.

At most bases, long lines of cars and trucks formed on nearby streets because of the ID checks. Harbor Drive near the 32nd Street Naval Station, Rosecrans Street near the submarine base and Miramar Way at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station were all gridlocked by 8 a.m.

At the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, armed Marine guards with attack dogs were posted at the entrances.

The management of several downtown San Diego office buildings ordered the structures evacuated this morning out of security concerns. The downtown high-rise is just south of the approach pattern for planes landing at Lindbergh Field.

Tenants at Symphony Towers at 750 B St., the tallest office building in the downtown area, were evacuated about 7:45 a.m. Jill Vivanco, the building manager, said the towers will remain closed “until further notice.”

Also evacuated was the Comerica Bank Building, one block west, which has about 35 tenants and 800 workers.

The 4th District Court of Appeals is housed at Symphony Towers, and justices were hearing oral arguments this week. Dan Lehner, an attorney who works for the court, said he drove to work from Encinitas this morning after watching the horrible scenario in New York City.

“I guess we’ll just go home and wait it out,” he said.

There are about 75 businesses and 1,500 people working in the building.

San Diego City Hall also was expected to shut down this morning.

Campuses across the San Diego Unified School District remained open despite the unfolding tragedy.

District officials said they were drafting memos to each school principal, spokesman David Smollar said about 8:45 a.m.

“Schools are open,” he said. “We are sending appropriate security and counseling memos to principals.”

In Escondido, high school administrators invited teachers and students to forsake the routine curriculum and discuss the attacks. Teams of counselors were brought onto campuses, although not many students sought help, assistant superintendent Jayme Arner said.

Lindbergh Field was nearly deserted by 8:30 a.m. as passengers, some in tears and most in shock, were escorted off their airplanes and told that air service would not resume.

Schedule boards gave the same verdict for every flight: “Canceled.”

“The FAA’s instructions were, ‘Get out of the sky,’” said Danette Lake, a Lindbergh Field spokeswoman.

Alenia Brooks of Milwaukee, her eyes rimmed in red, watched television coverage of the events unfolding in New York with her hand on her forehead. She voiced fear for a close friend employed in the commodities exchange of the World Trade Center, and for a sister who works a few blocks away.

“Just sick,” Brooks said.

As footage of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center replayed on an airport television, Dan Jhay, who works for Smartecarte, the luggage-moving company, winced. “Oh, man, imagine the people inside,” he said.

No one grumbled about the tight security. “It’s not a good day to be in the air,” said Phil Bostron of Encinitas.

The order to close Lindbergh Field was received before the airport’s 6:30 a.m. opening, a spokesman said. The airport normally handles 650 to 700 flight operations -- takeoffs and landings -- a day.

The only aircraft allowed to land this morning was a corporate jet cleared to touch down shortly before 8 a.m. at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, he said.

In Coronado, the Police Department’s midnight shift was held over and staffing was doubled, police said. The adjacent North Island Naval Air Station was reported closed, but access to the area was not curtailed.

Oceanside police said they were in contact with the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base, but had not been asked for assistance. A unit was ready if needed, they said.

Staff writers Bruce Lieberman, Matthew T. Hall, James W. crawley, Michael Stetz, Peter Rowe, Elizabeth Fitzsimons, Gregory Alan Gross, Jeff McDonald, Michael Burge, susan Gembrowski, ana Cearley and Sandra dibble contributed to this report.