Mar. 9--Mayor Richard Daley on Wednesday downplayed the importance of a weekend security breach at Midway Airport saying it was "only one incident," and he scoffed at the media play it generated.
"Slow news day," Daley declared.
But a city Aviation Department spokeswoman said that retraining sessions for airport security officers are planned. And officials will study ways to improve infrastructure at airfield checkpoints, she said.
Meanwhile, a suburban man said he watched the Midway intruder walk through an open security gate and onto the airfield unchallenged.
"When I saw him almost disappear walking right out toward the runways, I went into the guard shack, and there is a fellow there, and I said, 'Did you see that guy walking out there?'" recounted Wallace Sandberg, a retiree who lives in Hinsdale.
Mark Mechniek, 22, was charged with reckless conduct and criminal trespass to airport property on Sunday after he allegedly was spotted on the field during an incursion that lasted about six minutes.
Police said Mechniek, who reportedly had begun to take off his clothes by the time he was arrested, acknowledged that he had been drinking after he was taken into custody near the intersection of Runway 22 Left and a taxiway.
Authorities "checked it all out, and he was not a dangerous person," Daley told reporters at a West Side news conference where he discussed the city's emergency preparedness.
The mayor said he was not concerned.
"It's one incident," he said. "You want to make it everybody is running on the field. ... There could be another incident next month, I guess. But it is one, not 50, 100, 200."
Daley was asked what damage an intruder, sober and bent on violence, might be able to do if there were a similar security breach. But he changed the subject, discussing a pet peeve since terrorists used planes as weapons in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"He could fly a single engine plane and go anyplace," he said. "They don't have to file flight plans. They don't have any security. They can bring anything on the plane they want. ...
"So don't worry about anybody walking on."
Daley has called, without success, for a federal ban on small planes over the airspace of Chicago and other big cities.
As a result of Sunday's incident, more than 225 security officers and supervisors at Midway and O'Hare International Airport will undergo retraining on subjects including access and ID procedures and post duties, said Wendy Abrams, an Aviation Department spokewoman.
Possible physical improvements, such as new and faster-closing gates, also will be studied at Midway access points, Abrams said.
Sandberg said he parked his car on Sunday afternoon on the road that leads to the airfield security gate just off 55th Street, killing time as he waited to pick up his daughter, who was bound for Midway on a Southwest Airlines flight.
Sandberg said he saw the security gate open to admit an official-looking pickup truck. The truck turned and parked about 10 feet away on a road just inside the field, he said.
"The gate stayed open, and here this fellow came staggering down and came right past me," Sandberg said. "He was thin, a young guy and I don't think he had a coat on, and it was cold. ... He walked right through the gate and out onto the airfield" and "he kept walking ... I almost lost sight of him."
After Sandberg alerted the security guard, he said the guard picked up a phone. Sandberg left, only to read about the episode in the paper.
He said he was trying, so far without success, to contact officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration, to tell his story.
Abrams said city officials were unaware of Sandberg's contact with the security officer.
"We would love the opportunity to speak to Mr. Sandberg directly," she said.
