A look back: Yuma flights in holding pattern days after attack

The skies above Yuma were empty for a second day as the Yuma International Airport remained closed Wednesday to all commercial and civil aircraft.

“There is no word on when they will reopen,” said Yuma County legislative and public affairs director Kevin Tunell.

The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier that it expected to open the skies to air traffic by midday, but that time passed with the prohibition still in place.

With five daily flights out of Yuma, America West Airlines spokeswoman Patty Nowack announced that it would not resume noon flight operations as previously indicated.

“The government has not given approval for commercial carriers to resume flight service,” Nowack said in a phone interview from the company's Tempe-based headquarters.

Sky West spokesman David Clark said the airline was also waiting for the ground stop to be lifted.

“Our flights, as of this moment, have all been canceled through 6 p.m. Wednesday, but that is contingent on actions from the government,” he said of the five United Express daily departures from Yuma.

Federal Aviation Administration officials are allowing airline flights that were diverted after Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon to finish their journeys, but all other planes remain grounded.

As a result, America West expected to operate only minimal flights Wednesday, upon that governmental approval.

Nowack said that America West, like all other airlines carriers around the country, was awaiting word from the federal government.

She was also told the National Air Traffic Control System would not be operational until 9 a.m. today.

“That's really not a definitive time either,” she said.

More than likely there will be some canceled flights today, if and when the airline is given word to resume service, Nowack said.

“There is just a number of things that must happen in order to start up again,” she said, referring to the first-ever shutdown of U.S. air space on Tuesday.

Facing a logistical dilemma, Nowack said opening air space would not mean a full-scale resumption of services because there is a lot of planning that would still need to be done by the airline in order to see where planes, crews and passengers are, and how best to accommodate planes that were diverted.

“Those plans are being worked out right now,” she said. “Although nothing has been finalized yet, looking at those types of scenarios to see what needs to happen and when, there more than likely won't be a full schedule of flights when we become fully operational.”

“It's a pretty complex process to get airports up and running again,” Clark said.

There are roughly 40,000 departures of scheduled air service daily in the United States, and at any time during a typical weekday morning more than 4,000 planes are in the air.

Yuma Proving Ground remained open throughout Tuesday's ordeal and was still on a heightened state of alert as of this morning.

“There has been no change in our security level,” said Chuck Wullenjohn, YPG spokesman. “It could be hours, days or even weeks before a change occurs, we just don't know.”

Security measures include placing additional security personnel on roadways entering the proving ground, installing road barriers to restrict flow of traffic and notifying the workforce to heighten security awareness.

“By notifying the work force, we are asking people to be aware of cars or trucks that may be unknown to them parked next to or near a building,” he said. “Basically we are just asking people to be very security conscious and to report things.”

Wullenjohn also said the base started doing full inspections of every car that enters the proving ground.

“We're looking in glove compartments and trunks and that kind of thing,” he said. “Everybody that comes onto the proving ground is being inspected.”

The mission of YPG, to conduct tests of weapon systems and munitions, continues to take place and Wullenjohn said no members of the nearly 1,700-person work force have been sent home.

“Our work force is primarily civilian and they all perform critical jobs,” he said. “We can't send people home and still function.”

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma also remained on heightened security, but wouldn't discuss measures being taken.

According to a media advisory released by the county, all local ports of entry are open to citizens and commercial/cargo traffic.

Customs officials have advised people to be prepared for long delays at any border, while more intensive inspections of traffic are being conducted.