Threat Prompts Closure of Calif. Airport

Long Beach Airport was shut down Tuesday morning because of an unspecified threat, officials said.

The threat was made in a telephone call placed to the facility around 3 a.m., said airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson. She said she believed it was a bomb threat.

No commercial flights were immediately affected because planes don't begin departing and arriving until after 7 a.m., Diggs-Jackson said. But some flights likely will be delayed because security workers will have to screen a large volume of travelers when the airport reopens, she said.

Authorities hope to complete their investigation and begin allowing people into the airport around 7 a.m., she said.

The airport serves commercial carriers including Jet Blue, American, America West and Alaska.

A Long Beach police spokeswoman did not immediately return a page Tuesday morning.

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