America's bloodiest day
Hawai'i remains cut off from world

By Dan Nakaso and Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writers

Thousands of frustrated airline passengers remained stranded in Honolulu yesterday and a continuing sense of uncertainty and unease lingered in the Islands as people scrambled for information and a return to normalcy.

Transportation officials were still uncertain whether Honolulu International Airport would open today for even limited service. And last night, five airlines — Aloha, American, Hawaiian, Japan and Korean — canceled all flights for today.

The airport yesterday passed a Federal Aviation Administration security check of procedures, which include banning curbside parking and imposing stringent search measures. But no planes took off, and frustrated passengers filed away, leaving the airport eerily empty.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, whose department oversees the FAA, gave approval for flights diverted after Tuesday's attacks to continue on to their original destinations, but ordered all other commercial air traffic to remain grounded.

The eight flights diverted to Hawai'i before they reached their Mainland destinations will be given priority when flights resume, Mineta said. The flights are: United 808 from South Korea; United 838 from South Korea; United 842 from New Zealand; United 2 from Hong Kong; Qantas 7 from Sydney, Australia; Delta 78 from Narita, Japan; JAL 50 from Sapporo, Japan; and JAL 76 from Narita. The two JAL flights were diverted to Kona on the Big Island.

When those eight flights can leave Hawai'i also will depend on whether their destinations at Mainland airports have passed security inspections.

"It's not just the waiting, but waiting and not knowing if your flight is going to take off or not," said Charles Lin, a Chinese business management professor who waited at the airport in vain for nearly three hours yesterday for a China Airlines flight home to Taiwan.

"It would be helpful if you knew for sure you're waiting for your flight, instead of wasting time that could have gone to shopping or to the beach," Lin said.

China Airlines, which initially thought it had been given FAA approval for its Flight 017 yesterday, shuttled about 150 passengers to the airport at about noon. By 2 p.m., tour group employees handed out food from Jack in the Box to appease clients waiting in the muggy weather outside the terminal.

Mineta said it was decided to indefinitely postpone full restoration of service after aviation officials discussed security problems with the FBI and intelligence agencies.

The agency also imposed tough new security standards at airports, regulations that will bring heightened scrutiny of passengers and change the face of U.S. air travel. They include beefed-up airplane searches, a ban on nonpassengers in boarding areas, and an end to curbside baggage check-in.

FAA officials declined to discuss details of the new security standards imposed on airports, but officials with the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan International Airport, said the requirements for U.S. airports include:

• A ban on the sale or use of knives, regardless of size, in secure areas of airports. The ban extends to restaurants.

• A ban on cargo and mail on passenger airlines.

• Added bomb-detection teams at airports for quick response.

When airports in Hawai'i reopen, passengers can expect longer security delays and should arrive for their flights three hours early.

Although the new rules are an example of how life will change in the wake of Tuesday's attacks, delays, disruptions and cancellations were not limited to the airport.

Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu yesterday canceled all "co-curricular activities" for public schools through Sunday, including football, cross-country, volleyball and other student events.

"These events provide a time when families and communities come together," LeMahieu said. "I urge us all to take the time to reflect — in gratitude and appreciation for our own families and communities and out of respect and sympathy for those families and communities that have been torn apart."

The USS Arizona Memorial and Battleship Missouri Memorial remained closed for the second day. The federal building and federal courthouse reopened yesterday, although with increased security.

Security remained high at all military installations, although state Civil Defense officials said conditions were lowered in a move that may ease traffic congestion such as that experienced near bases during yesterday's morning commute.

But the sight of a Coast Guardsman armed with an M-16 rifle near the Diamond Head lighthouse still startled walkers and runners yesterday. The lighthouse serves as the quarters of Rear Adm. Ralph Utley, commander of the 14th Coast Guard District. The armed guard was part of increased military security, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Smith.

State and city officials continued their 24-hour Civil Defense operations with no sign that they planned to let down their guard.

"All of our emergency resources are still in place. We're all at a heightened level of activity," Hono-

lulu Mayor Jeremy Harris said. "We are continuing our heavy police protection at key sites."

Steps taken under the state "terrorism plan" — including stepped-up security at government buildings, harbors and airports — remain in effect.

Police Assistant Chief Boisse Correa said the Honolulu department continued yesterday to put about 200 investigators, vice officers and juvenile services officers in uniform to provide security across the city.

Even after state and county governments decrease security precautions, Harris said people should not expect things to return to "normal."

"I think we're going to have to see a quantum increase in security measures from this current level of security," Harris said. "I mean, if you can hijack four planes with a carpet knife, we clearly have to do things differently."

The terrorist attacks also prompted Gov. Ben Cayetano to postpone until at least December his trip to China and Japan with an 80-member state-sponsored delegation.

In Hilo yesterday, a nondenominational peace rally that urged no retaliation for Tuesday's terrorist attacks drew mixed responses. Some honked car horns, waving in agreement. Others shouted obscenities and said those responsible should "fry in hell."

Staff writers Hugh Clark, William Cole, Kevin Dayton, Michele Kayal, Curtis Lum and David Waite, The Associated Press and Gannett News Service contributed to this report.