One day after the region reacted to a thwarted terrorist threat in Britain, area airports appeared back to normal Friday — except for a sudden visit by the nation’s top counterterrorism chief.
The Washington metro region remainedunder heightened alert Friday, though interruptions to daily life seemed minimal. Airports maintained stricter security measures, Metro police with bomb-sniffing dogs swept random subway stations and trains, and District officials kept open the joint operation command center, keeping the city’s 19 closed-circuit cameras operating downtown.
And Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff inspected Reagan National Airport. He announced that investigators have uncovered no signs of any U.S.-based terrorists linked to a plot to blow up airliners flying to the United States.
Even so, Chertoff cited the possibility of other terrorists or sympathizers.
“So I’m not prepared to let my guard down,” he said.
Homeland security officials said they were satisfied with the response, coordination and communication of the agencies.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Darrin Kayser first learned something significant was happening when he got a call late Wednesday night about a 2 a.m. conference call. Homeland security officials woke up Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Justice Ed Reiskin early Thursday with word of the thwarted plot. D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey received a similar call from the FBI.
Though the British foiled a significant threat, U.S. Homeland Security officials were still calling for an alert.
Reiskin called the mayor and other emergency officials and put the city’s security plan in motion.
By Friday, life seemed to have moved on.
Travelers appeared to have received the news that fluids were banned from carry-on luggage, said Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
