Racing to get to game, this guy wreaks havoc at airport

ATLANTA -- In his quest to catch a flight to a college football game, Michael S. Lasseter dashed past an airport security checkpoint and rushed to the gate. He missed the flight, closed the nation's busiest airport and disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of other people.

The security breach Friday at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport prompted officials to shut down the airport for four hours and evacuate about 10,000 people, delaying thousands of passengers across the country on a busy travel weekend.

"I don't think he had any criminal intent," said James Stogner, operations manager for the airport. "People do irrational things -- especially football fans."

Lasseter told authorities he didn't know anyone was looking for him.

Late Friday morning, Lasseter, a 32-year-old bank executive from Gainesville, Ga., boarded a Northwest Airlines flight headed to Memphis with his 6-year-old son, 8-year-old nephew and wife's uncle.

"It was going to be a weekend of fun for the guys," his wife, Carla Lasseter, said. "I'm sure it's become a nightmare for my husband now."

Lasseter waited at the gate for his flight. Shortly before departure, he realized he had left his video camera on a terminal train, police said. He rushed down Concourse D and tried to retrace his route.

He ended up in the main terminal outside the airport's security zone and began looking around for his camera.

Realizing he was about to miss his flight, he dashed the wrong way down the escalators to the trains below, triggering an airportwide search and evacuation.

His wife said he was compelled in part by parental concern: "He didn't want to leave his son on the plane."

A security agent saw the diehard University of Georgia fan wearing a Bulldog T-shirt and jogging pants but couldn't catch up. Knowing only that an unchecked person was on the loose in the concourses, authorities evacuated about 10,000 people as the National Guard, airport security and police searched for the man.

The Federal Aviation Administration halted departures from Hartsfield, and planes in other cities destined for Atlanta were told to remain on the ground, FAA spokesman Christopher White said. International flights were allowed to land and passengers were held in the concourse.

Lasseter was planning to fly to Memphis with his three family members and then drive to Oxford, Miss., where Georgia played the University of Mississippi on Saturday. At least, for Lasseter's sake, Georgia won 35-15.

Police said Lasseter's son, nephew and wife's uncle made the flight Lasseter missed.

After evacuating and re-entering the airport with other passengers, Lasseter returned to the Northwest gate area to wait for another flight.

He was arrested after a pilot recognized him from a security videotape, said Sam Bonanno, Northwest's Atlanta general manager.

Lasseter was charged at the Clayton County Jail with disorderly conduct. He was released on bail Saturday and could face federal charges for violating airport security.

Airlines were still recovering Saturday from the hundreds of delays and cancellations that affected between 5,000 and 10,000 passengers. By noon, Delta Air Lines and Airtran were operating at near normal schedules.

Delta spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said lines at check-in counters were still long Saturday and the airline urged passengers to arrive three hours before their flight. Delta canceled 250 flights Friday.

Tad Hutcheson, spokesman for Airtran, said it was too early to assess how much money the airline lost from the security breach. Airtran canceled 24 flights and diverted 17 others.

"The economic impact from the diversions to other cities -- which will obviously cost extra fuel -- employee overtime, the lost revenue from people who decided they didn't want to go . . . it will be a significant amount," Hutcheson said.

-- Information from the Associated Press and Cox News Service was used in this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright